More than 200,000 people from the 10 new EU countries have found employment in Ireland in the past two years, Minister for Social Affairs Séamus Brennan said yesterday.
However, he said "visionary initiatives" were needed in social welfare if the State was to adequately meet the scale of emerging employment requirements.
Launching the 13th edition of the information booklet Working for Work, Mr Brennan said the completion of welfare reforms was one of the biggest challenges facing the State.
The aim of these would be to ensure people on the "periphery of employment" were given "every support and opportunity in having their talents and contribution fully utilised".
Working for Work is published by the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed, with funding support from Mr Brennan's department.
The Minister said the Central Statistics Office had estimated that 50,000 immigrant workers would be needed, in addition to home-produced workers, every year for the next decade.
"The reality is that over 200,000 people have come from the 10 new EU countries in the past two years and have found employment here. The latest statistics show that less than 1 per cent of these people have ended up on welfare payments.
"On the other hand, there are currently just under 160,000 people signing on the live register at present. While the majority of those, up to 85 per cent, will leave the register within one year, the reality is that too many others are falling into long-term unemployment."
Mr Brennan said many of the 80,000 lone parents on welfare supports needed support if they were to find a route to rewarding employment.
In addition, there were some 200,000 people in receipt of illness and disability payments, ranging from those with short-term illnesses to people with severe disabilities who might welcome intervention and support.
"The challenge is to make sure that in an economy as successful as ours, we do not overlook or neglect the employment contribution that any individual can make."
He said more than €1 billion had been invested in recent years in welfare-to-work initiatives and supports. Since the back-to-work allowance had been introduced a decade ago it had assisted 110,000 people in taking up jobs or becoming self-employed.
