A new report has shown that while immigration has largely had a positive effect on the Irish economy, the country needs to have a long-term immigration strategy including better provisions for the integration of migrants into society if Ireland is to continue benefiting from migration.

The report, “Managing Migration in Ireland: A Social and Economic Analysis”, prepared by IOM on behalf of Ireland’s National Economic and Social Council (NESC) is being launched today in Dublin by the Irish Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern.

With a rapidly growing economy and a high demand for migrant labour, Ireland’s migration policies were virtually employer led until a few years ago. With migration likely to remain a structural feature of the Irish economy, the report recommends that the government lead the way in building a widely shared understanding of the role of migration in the long-term economic and social future of the country and that migration should be factored into the spectrum of government with integration policies being mainstreamed into key service delivery departments such as health and education.

Traditionally a country of emigration, Ireland has become a country of immigration in less than 10 years, attracting at first mostly young and highly qualified workers and more recently, lower skilled workers. The report found that migrants helped increase economic growth, eased labour market shortages, improved output and contributed to reducing earnings inequality.

More than 70,000 migrants moved to Ireland in the year up to April 2005 making it the country most affected by migration in relation to size than any other European Union member state since EU enlargement. Nearly four percent of the working age population in Ireland in 2005 were from the new EU states according to the European Commission, with EU nationals representing the majority of new immigrants to the country.

Immigration is also projected to continue at levels of about 30,000 a year for the next five to ten years with migrants contributing up to 50 per cent of the expected labour growth until 2016. With the introduction of new measures in 2003-2004 making it more difficult for employers to hire unskilled workers from outside the European Economic Area (EEA), the government expects that future immigration will be characterized by low skilled migration from EEA and high skilled migration from outside.

Migration to Ireland has also benefited countries of origin. According to the report, migrants have sent home more than 100 million Euros through formal channels to countries outside of Europe and North America over the past two years. With migrants coming from more than 100 countries, cultural diversity and knowledge of different business practices could also help boost Ireland’s trade with other countries, and encourage investment into the country.

While the report found little evidence that Irish workers were losing out on jobs as a result of immigration, it warns, however, that low-skilled immigration might create negative effects in the future if economic conditions change.

There are also some signs that Ireland is not making the best use of migrants’ skills and that this is resulting in “brain waste” with some highly skilled migrants underemployed in lower-skilled jobs. One study by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) estimates that if migrants were fully utilizing their skills, immigration would have increased Irish GNP to 3.3 per cent in the five years up to 2003 rather than the actual 2.6 per cent.

Other recommendations include developing an immigration status that entitles certain migrants to long-term working and residency rights and the better enforcement of employment laws for all workers to protect all workers and prevent the growth in irregular migration.

To access the full report, please go to: www.nesc.ie

For further information, please contact:

Frank Laczko
Head, IOM Research and Publications
Tel: +41 79 787 52 33
E-mail: flaczko@iom.int