IRELAND HAS received a far higher share of immigrants from countries that joined the EU in 2004 than any other EU state.
Some 5 per cent of the working-age population here originates in those countries, a report by the European Commission has found.
This was considerably more than in the UK, the second-largest receiving country in relative terms, where 1.2 per cent of the working-age population came from these 10 countries.
Austria and Luxembourg also had a significant proportion of recent "EU10" arrivals, albeit much fewer than in the UK and Ireland. Across all other member states, the population share of this newcomer group is very small. That is true even in Sweden, which followed Ireland and the UK by not restricting EU10 migrants from working, but where they account for only 0.1 per cent of all working-age people.
The study of the impact of the free movement of workers within the union also revealed that in almost all member states, the number of recent arrivals from non-EU countries exceeded the number of newcomers from other EU member states. The only exceptions were Ireland and Luxembourg.
The Republic has been the second most popular destination for Polish citizens, having received 17 per cent of Poland's migrant workers since the country joined the EU in 2004. Some 60 per cent went to the UK, while Germany received 11 per cent.
A feature of post-EU enlargement mobility is that much of it appears to be temporary, the report notes, and a picture is emerging in Ireland and the UK of significant numbers of central and eastern Europeans moving on to other countries.
"A further surge of labour mobility from the new member states seems unlikely. Mobility flows from the EU10 to the UK and Ireland appear to have peaked in 2006 and have significantly declined in 2007 and the first quarter of 2008," it states.
The commission concluded that the overall impact of post-enlargement mobility has been positive. Migrant workers have helped to meet higher demand for labour in the receiving countries and contributed to economic growth without significantly displacing local workers or driving down their wages.
The report called on the EU's western member states to remove remaining labour market restrictions on workers from the newer member states "as quickly as possible".
"The right to work in another country is a fundamental freedom for people in the EU. Migrant workers move to where there are jobs available and this benefits the economy," said employment commissioner Vladimír Špidla.
"I call on member states to consider whether the temporary restrictions on free movement are still needed given the evidence presented in our report. Lifting restrictions now would not only make economic sense but would also help reduce problems such as undeclared work and bogus self-employment."
Only Austria, Belgium, Denmark and Germany still apply labour market restrictions to migrants from states that joined the bloc in 2004. But Bulgarians and Romanians, who joined the EU in 2007, face restrictions in all western EU states with the exception of Finland and Sweden.
Under EU entry treaties, older member states can restrict labour market access to newcomers for up to seven years from their accession date. The Government is expected to retain work restrictions on citizens from Romania and Bulgaria when the issue is reviewed by Cabinet shortly.
Migrant workers
Working-age migrants from the "EU 10" as a percentage of the total resident working-age population.
Ireland 5.0%
Luxembourg 0.5%
UK 1.2%
Belgium 0.1%
Sweden 0.1%
Italy 0.1%
Denmark 0.1%
Finland 0.1%
Germany 0.1%
Austria 0.4%
Source: Employment in Europe 2008, published by the European Commission. Figures are based on 2007 data.
