Integrating immigrants - Time to plan for future of new Ireland

THE news that Ireland is to pay more than €90 million a year in child benefits to EU nationals whose dependants do not live in this country is just another punctuation mark in the evolution of our society.

The Department of Social and Family Affairs faces more than 20,000 applications for the payments, but 4,000 of these are likely to be rejected. Claims have gone from 30 a week in 2005 to more than 450 a week in the first four months of this year.

Once, not so long ago, these figures would have stirred the invective of those who dreamt we could live in a virtually closed society forever.