THE JUSTICE MINISTER said he’s “not forcing” anyone to come to Ireland and immigrants aren’t “entitled” to bring their families here.

The sweeping immigration reforms will not only make family reunification more difficult, but will see asylum seekers charged for their accommodation.

Furthermore, some social welfare payments will impact one’s ability to become an Irish citizen.

Speaking to RTÉ’s Today with David McCullagh, Minister Jim O’Callaghan defended the changes, saying immigrants need to be self-sufficient.

Soon, adult immigrants who wish to bring their children here will have to earn more than a certain amount. The figure for one child is €44,300. It’s €54,200 for two children and €64,200 for three children.

O’Callaghan was asked about the challenges this would pose for key workers who are immigrants and don’t earn that much.

He said many who come through family reunification are children or dependent parents – “people who require to be cared for”.

“If the sponsor bringing them in isn’t going to be able to look after them, the state’s going to have to look after them. So we have to take into account the financial costs that this is going to have,” said O’Callaghan.

Demanding “self-sufficiency”, he says, is fair.

“I’m not forcing people to come to Ireland,” he said.

“Nobody’s forcing people to come here. People are coming here because there are work opportunities.

“Just because you make a decision to go to another country, doesn’t mean that you have an automatic entitlement to bring your whole family with you.”

The new proposals come on the back of debate about migration and comments made by government leaders, such as Tánaiste Simon Harris, that the numbers arriving into Ireland are too high. 

Last year, when the European Migration Pact was being voted on, Harris denied that ‘Ireland is full’, telling RTÉ: “Irish people are very fair. Migration is a good thing. We need people to come to Ireland. We need them to do it legally.”

Fast forward 18 months or so and Harris, as well as others in government, have said that the general migration figures, outside of asylum applications, are “too high”.

Opposition parties have slammed Harris in recent weeks for his comments, stating that his language failed to explain the complexities around migration, conflating the different groups coming to the country, either for work or asylum, while also failing to state that the numbers seeking asylum in Ireland have fallen this year in comparison to last year.