Majority of voters in favour of work permits for EU migrants

A new opinion poll on the issue of re-introducing work permits for foreign workers has revealed that 78% of voters are in favour of the idea.

The results of the TNS/MRBI poll published in today’s Irish Times showed that the majority of the 1,000 voters surveyed also believe there are enough or even too many foreign workers here.

Many are of the opinion that their presence is making it more difficult for Irish people to get jobs and is pushing down pay and work standards.

Just 17% said that work permits should not be introduced for workers from the eight countries that joined the EU since 2004, while 5% had no opinion on the matter.

41% believed that there were enough foreign workers here already and no more should be permitted, while 29% said there were too many here and steps should be taken to reduce the number.

The majority of those who took part in the survey also believe the presence of foreign workers is good for the Irish economy and society.

The belief that the numbers of foreign workers should either be reduced or preserved is stronger amongst the less-well off.

35% of those surveyed in the C2DE group said there were too many workers here and their numbers should be reduced while just 19% thought more should be allowed in.

In the better-off ABC1 group, just 20% thought there were too many here and 30% said more should be permitted to come to Ireland to work.