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Systems needed to process arrivals, Taoiseach says, as immigration hits 17-year high

CSO figures show that 149,200 immigrated to Ireland last year (File: RollingNew.ie)
CSO figures show that 149,200 immigrated to Ireland last year (File: RollingNew.ie)

The Taoiseach has said inward migration is a good thing "but Ireland needs to make sure that systems are in place to properly process people".

It comes as figures released by the Central Statistics Office show that immigration to Ireland has reached a 17-year high, with 149,200 people arriving in the country in the 12 months to April.

Speaking at the Irish embassy in Paris, Simon Harris said people who come seeking international protection need to be given "a yes or no [answer] more quickly".

"If it's a yes, welcome them, integrate them, help them work in our economy where we desperately need people to work in some sectors.

"If it's a no, make sure they leave our jurisdiction much more quickly," he added.

Many of the people moving to live in Ireland were Irish people moving home or people from other countries coming on work visas to fill positions where employers needed skilled workers, Mr Harris said.

Simon Harris said there is a need for a quicker response to international protection applications

Asked about public services coping with the numbers of people coming into the country, he said the public services would not be able to run without immigrants coming to work in those services.

The CSO figures show that of the almost 150,000 people to arrive in the country, 30,000 were returning Irish citizens, 27,000 were other EU citizens and 5,400 were UK citizens.

The remaining 86,800 immigrants were citizens of other countries.

The CSO said this was the third successive 12-month period where more than 100,000 people immigrated to Ireland.

The number of immigrants to the State in the year is estimated by the CSO to have grown by just over 5% to 149,200 from 141,600 when compared with 2023.

The figures also show that 10,600 people left Ireland to live in Australia, up from 4,700 last year.

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Read more: CSO figures confirm trend of a growing but older population


Around 15,200 people left Ireland to live in the UK - up from 14,600 in 2023 - and 20,500 people came to Ireland from the UK, up from 18,400 in 2023.

More than 69,000 people emigrated from Ireland in the 12 months to April, compared with 64,000 in the same period of 2023.

This is the highest emigration figure since 2015.

The figures show that in the 12 months to April, more people arrived in Ireland than left - 79,300 in April this year, compared with 77,600 in the previous year.

There was also a natural increase of 19,400 people in the State, comprised of 54,200 births and 34,800 deaths.



The CSO estimates show that Ireland has an ageing population, with 833,300 people aged 65 and over in April, while a downward trend in births since 2019 has driven a decline in children aged between 0 and 4 since 2012.

In April, estimates show there were 55,500 children aged under 12 months in Ireland, down by 19,400 from 2010.

The number of people living in Dublin has increased from 27.6% in 2011 to 28.5% and the capital's population is now at 1,534,900 - an increase of 33,400 since April 2023.