Minister raises immigration issues
Manx Radio
Published online at 14/04/2009 06:00:00
There are calls for new controls on immigration into the Isle of Man.
Minister for Trade and Industry David Cretney has a motion in Tynwald this month asking for the Council of Ministers to produce a report on the subject, and consider the possibility of introducing a points based system for potential new residents.
He also wants a Migration Policy Group to be established, to examine changes to the law in the United Kingdom and whether they could be incorporated into immigration rules for the Isle of Man.
Mr Cretney says the idea of putting a cap on the population can't be ruled out.
He told Manx Radio:
“It's something that's been discussed for 'donkey's years'.
“I think there was a kind of artificial cap set some years ago by a former governor, at 75,000.
“As you know, we are past that now – we are at about 80,000 – although there is some emigration at the moment away from the Island.
“I think what we need to do is ensure that any growth which occurs on the Island does so in a carefully managed way, rather than the excessive growth which occurred in the late 1980s, which put all sorts of pressure on the infrastructure and on housing in particular.”
