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: "paragraph-link-no-underline" href="http://www.nesc.ie" target=
"_blank" title="">www.nesc.ie

For further information, please contact:

Frank Laczko

Head, IOM Research and Publications

Tel: +41 79 787 52 33

E-mail: "mailto:flaczko@iom.int">flaczko@iom.int