A study to be published today by AIB shows that one in 12 workers in Ireland is a foreign national, yet Ireland's share of such workers is close to the "pre-enlargement" EU average, writes Marc Coleman, Economics Editor.
In a separate development, The Irish Times has learned that a European Commission report, due for publication tomorrow, will argue that migrants have made a positive contribution to the Irish economy, and that other EU states should follow Ireland's example in opening labour markets to accession states.
Ireland, Sweden and the UK are the only countries among pre-enlargement EU countries to allow free access to accession-state citizens. Last week the European Trade Union Confederation voted for the first time to demand an end to restrictions in the other 12 pre-enlargement EU states.
The AIB study, entitled Non-National Workers in the Irish Economy and written by economists John Beggs and Oliver Mangan, is based on previously unseen data prepared by the Central Statistics Office.
It finds that Ireland has the highest share of immigration from the accession states. It says the representation of foreign workers in construction is not unduly high, and the overall number of construction workers poses a greater threat to the economy.
"Concern has been expressed about the large number of non-national workers in the Irish construction sector . . . However, a more macro concern relates to the overall scale and share of construction employment in total employment and the risks to the economy of a sharp fall in the sector."
The share of foreign nationals in the construction sector is 9 per cent, according to the report, compared to a share of 8 per cent for the labour force as a whole. It says Ireland's share of foreign workers is just above the 7.3 per cent average for pre-enlargement states.
The commission report argues that accession-state migrants are making a positive contribution to the Irish economy, and they are more likely to be working than native citizens. Some 85 per cent of accession country migrants are in work compared to 67 per cent of Irish citizens.