The Irish government will put a veto on the employment of Bulgarian and Romanian workers following their joining EU in 2007, according to the London daily Sunday Times.
This is a drastic shift of the position stated by the Prime Minister Borty Ahorn last week. At the time he rebuked several of his EU colleagues for the delays in granting free access to the 10 new member-states, Sunday Times reported.
Government spokesman comments that the decision to set preventive clauses for the employees from Bulgaria and Romania will be made by this year’s fall and will be based upon a number of factors regarding the situation of the Irish labor market and the opinion of the rest of the member states.
He also added that the business circles and trade unions in Ireland are concerned about global economy which is to be taken into account, and that the government has to be aware of overwhelming the labor market.
On the other hand, last week’s publications of Allied Irish banks pointed out that the integration of the latest ten member states did not significantly influence the pressure on Irish employees with regard to less paid workers from East Europe. According to the report, the countries that have not hindered employment of foreign workers after the year 2004, namely, Great Britain, Ireland and Sweden, actually demonstrate high economic growth and decrease of unemployment.
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