PLAID Cymru Assembly Member Simon Thomas took part in BBC Wales’s new debate programme ‘The Hour’ in Newport, Gwent on Monday night about immigration.
Mid and West AM Simon Thomas, following the programme said: “Immigration has been a contentious issue in the past but Wales as a nation benefits from immigration.
“The tragedy is that London centric policies have resulted in policies on immigration that have damaged the Welsh economy. We need a system that works for us here in Wales this is why Plaid Cymru believes we should introduce a Welsh visa to allow any skills shortage to be plugged.
“Plaid Cymru will create a Welsh Migration service to ensure that migration meets Welsh needs and introduce a skills shortage list of trades and skills which are not currently being met by Welsh workers.
“Meaningless targets based on number plucked out of thin air do nothing for our economic or social needs like ensuring we have enough doctors and nurses in our hospitals and food on our table.”
In our crucial agriculture sector, 65% of workers are non-UK EU citizens and approximately 80% of seasonal workers employed in agriculture come from the EU.
In the health and social care sector, as of September 2015 around 1,140 EU nationals were employed in NHS Wales, with 6% of our doctors having trained in other parts of the EU.
