The Economic and Social Research Institute has called for immigrants to be given the fullest opportunity to contribute to the economy in its latest quarterly report.
In its spring economic commentary, published this morning, the Government-backed body has predicted a growth in the economy of 5.7 per cent this year and a similar figure next year.
However, the report indicates that the growth will not lead to the same standard of living increase as the 1990s boom.
The main author of the quarterly bulletin, Mr Danny McCoy, argued that immigrants should be given the fullest opportunity to contribute to the economy.
He said that research showed immigrants in Ireland were not using their educational and other qualifications to their full potential, with many holding jobs for which they were overqualified.
The ESRI believes that if more migrants worked in occupations that utilised their educational abilities, it would increase real gross national disposable income by 1 per cent rather than the 0.4 per cent currently attributed to them.
A special paper published along with the Spring economic commentary also called for the full economic cost of providing infrastructure to holiday homes to be levied on their owners.
The demand for holiday homes in the BMW region, fuelled in part by tax breaks, has pushed up the price of housing in the region, according to Prof John FitzGerald.