THE Environmental Systems Research Institute (or ESRI) has published research which shows that foreign-born Irish residents are more likely to be in employment, active in the labour market and better educated when compared with the host population.
In their latest Monitoring Report on Integration, ESRI has examined the lived experience of both migrants and Irish-born citizens using metrics such as employment, education, social inclusion and active citizenship.
It found that while migrants are more often active in the labour market, they have lower incomes and are more likely to experience poverty and deprivation (14.5%) than their Irish-born counterparts (11%).
As a result, migrants are much more likely to be affected by high housing costs and housing shortages in the Irish State, with 37% spending more than 30% of their income on housing, compared to just 9% of Irish-born residents. ESRI described the findings as ‘particularly stark’ since it all but confirms that right-wing talking points about migrants receiving preferential treatment around housing are wrong.
The report was published by ESRI, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, and the Department of Justice. It found that migrant employment and participation in the labour market have been at a higher level than Irish-born citizens going back to 2022.
The study also found that 59% of working-age foreign-born residents polled between 2021 and 2023 had tertiary education, while just 42% of Irish-born residents could claim the same.
Irish-born citizens fared better in terms of self-employment with 10.3% identifying as such compared with just 8.4% of foreign-born residents. Those born in the UK (15.3%) and those born in North America, Australia and Oceania (15.5%) fared better in self-employment than those same Irish-born residents.
Political participation of foreign-born nationals has also risen, with the number of immigrants running and winning 2024 local elections almost doubling. The number of councillors from a migrant background now stands at 2.2%.
Co-author of the report, Evan Carron-Kee, said of the findings: “Recent positive developments in migrant integration include strong growth in the African employment rate and improvements in citizenship processing times.
“However, there are also some persistent challenges. Migrants are disproportionately impacted by the housing crisis and are much more likely to experience income poverty and deprivation. These issues require urgent policy attention.”
