Latest News

04 Aug 2023

New legislation relaxes requirements for naturalisation and removes option to leave voluntarily for deportees with serious offence convictions

  The Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2023, which commenced on 2 August 2023, contains a range of amendments and updates to law related to Irish nationality and citizenship, civil liability, bankruptcy, legal services, immigration, international protection, and more. Regarding citizenship and migration, the Act makes a number of significant changes to existing law and procedures. Children born … Read More

18 Jul 2023

Revised National Referral Mechanism for victims of human trafficking published in new bill

  On 17 July 2023, a new bill containing a revised National Referral Mechanism (NRM) for the identification and support of victims of human trafficking was published. The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Bill 2023 places the identification and protection of victims of human trafficking on statutory footing and expands the number of bodies that can identify a … Read More

28 Jun 2023

Ireland remains Tier 2 in US Department of State 2023 Trafficking in Persons report 

  On 15 June 2023, the United States Department of State published the 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report, which tracks and assesses countries’ anti-trafficking efforts according to a tiered ranking system. In the report, Ireland is designated as Tier 2 for the second consecutive year after being moved from the Tier 2 watch list where it was placed in 2020 and … Read More

13 Jun 2023

Justice and Home Affairs Council agrees approach on two new asylum and migration regulations

  On 8 June 2023, the Justice and Home Affairs Council agreed a general approach on the asylum and migration management regulation (AMMR) and the asylum procedure regulation (APR). Negotiations with the European Parliament can now begin with adoption of the regulations possible in 2024. If adopted, the asylum and migration management regulation would replace the existing Dublin regulation, which … Read More

01 Jun 2023

Summary results from Census 2022 on migration and integration

  On 30 May 2023, The Central Statistics Office released summary results from 2022 Census which includes details of population changes since Census 2016, as well as data on longer term trends. The summary results also share information on the population’s age and sex, marital status, citizenship, employment, and more. Below are excerpts from the summary results with a focus … Read More

23 May 2023

UNHCR publishes report on Statelessness in Ireland

On Tuesday 23 May, United Nations Human Rights Commission in Ireland published a report “Mapping Statelessness in Ireland.” This report builds on a 2014 scoping study with updated information on legislation, policy, and practice. The report also includes recommendations for improving compliance with the 1960 and 1954 Conventions on Statelessness which Ireland has ratified. Stateless people do not have the … Read More

15 May 2023

Fact Sheet on New Pact on Migration and Asylum Progress Published

  On 20 April 2023, the European Commission published a fact sheet with an updated state of play regarding the New Pact on Migration and Asylum.  The New Pact on Migration and Asylum was proposed by the Commission in September 2020 as a ‘new EU framework that manages and normalises migration for the long term’. It builds on a package … Read More

24 Mar 2023

Strong take up of right to work by international protection applicants in Ireland since 2018

  Ireland granted international protection applicants the right to work in mid-2018. A considerable number of applicants have sought to access the labour market since then, with over 12,000 applicants granted labour market access permissions up to the end of 2022. New EMN Ireland/ESRI research published today examines labour market access by applicants and their integration into the Irish labour … Read More

22 Mar 2023

National Action Plan Against Racism published with ‘Year-one Implementation Plan’

  On 21 March 2023, the Minister of State for Community Development, Integration and Charities, Joe O’Brien, announced the publication of the National Action Plan Against Racism (NAPAR) 2023-2027. The plan proposes actions to help make Ireland a place in which the impacts of racism are fully acknowledged and actively addressed. It was developed by an independent Anti-Racism Committee chaired … Read More

10 Feb 2023

ESRI and Department of Taoiseach’s Shared Island Unit to launch report comparing migrant integration in Ireland and Northern Ireland

  On Monday 6 March 2023, the ESRI and the Department of the Taoiseach’s Shared Island Unit will co-host an event to launch a report comparing migrant integration in Ireland and Northern Ireland.  Both Ireland and Northern Ireland have seen an increase in inward migration in recent decades. The report compares the composition of migrant populations, employment profiles, and the … Read More

20 Jan 2023

New EMN Inform: Organising flexible housing in the context of international protection

  Between 2017 and 2021, many EMN Member and Observer Countries experienced a high degree of volatility in the number of applicants for international protection, which in some countries led to tensions in the reception systems. This inform aims to gather information that can help policymakers better organise their reception systems in a flexible manner, whilst anticipating further changing inflows … Read More

19 Jan 2023

New ESRI research finds significant ‘migrant wage gap’

  In new research published today, the ESRI finds that non-Irish nationals as a whole earned 22 per cent less per hour than Irish nationals. East European workers earned, on average, 40 per cent less than Irish workers in the period 2011-2018. For non-Irish workers overall, this wage gap shrunk over time: from 25.5 per cent in 2011–2013, just after … Read More

13 Jan 2023

2022 Employment permits statistics published

  On 4 January 2023, The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment published the employment permit statistics for 2022. In total, there were 39,955 permits issued, 3,478 refused, and 1,705 withdrawn. There was an increase of over double the number of permits issued with proportionate increases in permits refused and withdrawn as compared to 2021.    Below are further highlights … Read More

10 Jan 2023

Immigration processing snapshot published

  On 5 January 2022, the Department of Justice released the Mid-Year Review Immigration Service Delivery Statistics for January to June 2022. The statistics covering July to December 2022 are expected in early 2023. The figures included relate to the processing of applications for residency, citizenship, international protection, as well as data on repatriation. Below are some highlights from the … Read More