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Migration
The role of demographic factors in economic and social developments has always been a key aspect of ESRI research. In recent years, the focus of work in this area has been on migration. Given the large inflows of immigrants into Ireland over the last decade, research has addressed:   
  • The impact of immigrants on economic growth, average earnings and the distribution of earnings.
  • The earnings of immigrants relative to Irish employees.
  • The occupational attainment of immigrants.

Our most recent work on migration comes under a number of headings. For example, over the period 2008-2009, work is being undertaken on a project funded by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences titled Immigrants’ Characteristics, Experiences and Impacts. The first published paper from this project showed how the CSO’s Quarterly National Household Survey provides a reliable data source for migration research ("How Reliable is the Quarterly National Household Survey for Migration Research?”). A second paper on immigrant earnings has appeared as an ESRI working paper (ESRI WP 236, "The Immigrant Earnings Disadvantage Across the Earnings and Skills Distributions: The Case of Immigrants from the EU's New Member States in Ireland").

Other papers have been produced recently on the occupational attainment of Ireland ’s immigrants (“Are Ireland’s Immigrants Integrating into its Labour Market?”) and on use of welfare by immigrants in Ireland and the UK ("Immigrants and Welfare Programmes: Exploring the Interactions between Immigrant Characteristics, Immigrant Welfare Dependence and Welfare Policy"). These papers were published in the International Migration Review and in the Oxford Review of Economic Policy, respectively.

During 2008, four published reports were prepared for the European Commission Directorate General for Justice, Freedom and Security as part of the activities of the European Migration Network (EMN) Irish National Contact Point. The EMN was established with a permanent legal base in May 2008. Published reports included commentary on migration and asylum flows into Ireland and policy developments for the years 2004 to 2007. Also in 2008, a major reference report was compiled on immigration in Ireland with a focus on the legal dimensions: Handbook on Immigration and Asylum in Ireland 2007.

Under the ESRI’s programme of research which is funded by the Equality Authority, a report was published in 2008 on the labour market experience of immigrants in Ireland, with particular reference to ethnicity ("Immigrants at Work: Ethnicity and Nationality in the Irish Labour Market"). This added a further layer to our understanding of the experiences of immigrants in Ireland.

Future Research
Our work in this area continues. We are currently working on the economic impact of immigrants on wages and also on the issue of return migration on the part of Irish people. Given the changed economic circumstances of 2008/09, we will also be looking at the impact of the recession on migration into (and out of) Ireland.


Programme Coordinator: Alan Barrett