Managing Migration in Ireland - European Commission - Europa

191This report has discussed some of the social and economic effects of recentmigration, especially non-Irish immigration to Ireland, and reviewed current policyresponses. In this last chapter, we discuss what might be Ireland’s overall approachto migration and its policy objectives in relation to migration, given the rapidincrease in non-Irish immigration flows in recent years. How can Ireland developand promote policies that maximize the benefits of migration and minimize thecosts? We begin by summarising some of the key points from the earlier chapters.11.1 Key TrendsThe impact of migration in Ireland, and the policy challenges posed by migration,will vary according to many factors, the most important being the scale andcomposition of the migrant population. In earlier chapters, we noted several keytrends:sNet immigration has risen quite recently and very rapidlyIn the year up to April 2005, over 70,000 people moved to Ireland, resulting in a netimmigration of just over 53,000, more than double the level in 2000. After EUenlargement, there was a 4 per cent increase in the Irish labour force due toimmigration. In 2005, the Irish workforce grew by an additional 58,000 people, ofwhom 40,000 were migrants.sThe profile of migrants has changedWhile historically the bulk of migration into Ireland consisted of returning Irishnationals, a distinctive feature of immigration in recent years is the growingproportion of non-nationals among migrants. Already by 2000, the share of nonnationalsin inward migration had increased to 50 per cent. In 2004, thisproportion jumped to nearly 75 per cent. In addition, there has been a substantialincrease in the share of non-national migrants coming from outside the EuropeanUnion and the English-speaking world.The bulk of immigration into Ireland, over the 1990s was skilled labour. Morerecently there has been a substantial influx of less-skilled migrants with workpermits granted for semi-skilled or unskilled work predominantly in agricultureand the services sector. Approximately 75 per cent of work permit holders in 2003were in unskilled jobs.