‘Control’ is key to combating anti-migrant sentiment, German finance minister says

People will accept migrants and asylum seekers if they see the government has “control” of the situation, the German finance minister has said.

On a visit to Dublin on Tuesday, Christian Lindner said that while he had no “advice” to offer Ireland about migration, this country faces the same skills shortages as Germany.

“We have to face two challenges in Germany. On the one hand, we have a shortage in the labour market. We need qualified immigration into our labour market. I think the situation in Ireland is similar.

“And on the other hand, we have experienced illegal migration into our welfare system over the last years, and people do not accept this. The solution is control.”

He was answering a question from the Irish Independent on whether Ireland can learn any lessons from Germany’s recent experience, which has seen a wave of anti-European and anti-immigration sentiment lead to the creation of the far right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party in 2013.

The party now holds 78 out of 736 seats in the German parliament, though calls are growing to ban the group after German website Correctiv revealed high-ranking AfD politicians met neo-Nazis and extremists last year to discuss forced deportations.

AfD has pledged to campaign for a Brexit-style EU exit vote in Germany. Mr Lindner said earlier this week that a so-called Dexit, or German EU exit, would ruin the economy.

Mr Lindner said that Germany’s policy was to make it easier for people to move to Germany for work, while stopping illegal migration.

“This is how we intend to convince people to accept migration: through control,” he said. “We will make a choice who we invite into our labour market, with whom we show solidarity, and who is not allowed to stay in Germany. And control brings acceptance.”

His visit comes after an Ipsos B&A opinion poll found that 59pc of Irish people want a more closed migration policy.

It also comes after a spate of suspected arson attacks on vacant properties around the country that are – often falsely – rumoured to be turned into accommodation for asylum seekers.

Germany has faced similar attacks in recent years.

Mr Lindner was in Dublin on Tuesday, where he met Finance Minister Michael McGrath and Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe, as well as German companies based here.

He and Mr McGrath discussed domestic and international economic and fiscal development, global tax discussions and bilateral cooperation.

Germany is the second-largest destination for Irish goods exports, after the US, and was the third-largest destination for Irish services in 2022.

Mr McGrath said Ireland’s combined trade in goods and services with Germany amounts to around €42bn per year, with Irish exports to Germany more than tripling over the last decade.

Mr Lindner said Ireland and Germany are “on the same page when it comes to sound public finances” and that Irish-German cooperation is “more intense than it had ever been before” the UK left the EU three years ago.

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