Earnings:Immigrants earned 15 per cent less than their Irish counterparts in 2005, and that wage differential doubled for those from the EU's new member states, according to a study on immigrants' earnings by the Economic and Social Research Institute.

Using average hourly earnings as their measure, Dr Alan Barrett and Yvonne McCarthy found that while English-speaking immigrants generally fare as well as their Irish counterparts, those who come from the new EU states of central and eastern Europe earned 32 per cent less than comparable natives.

The high educational attainment of the Republic's immigrants is shown again, with more than 40 per cent having third-level degrees or better. But the authors also conclude that the immigrant wage disadvantage is concentrated among third-level graduates.

Part of the explanation often given for lower immigrant earnings is lower returns on education and labour market experience acquired in the home country.

The report, which was based on data from the EU Survey on Income and Living Conditions for 2005, also found a double disadvantage for migrant women in the Republic, in that they lose out on both the gender and immigrant pay gaps.

It showed that while women in general (immigrants and natives) earn 12 per cent less than comparable men, female immigrants earn 14 per cent less than comparable Irish female employees. Again, this double disadvantage is concentrated among female immigrants with third-level degrees.