Immigration to Ireland dropped sharply last year, with overall arrivals decreasing by 16% in the year to April 2025, according to the European Migration Network (EMN) Ireland’s annual review.
The review noted that this decline was mainly driven by a continued fall in arrivals from Ukraine, reports RTE.
A total of 111,480 Personal Public Service numbers were issued to Ukrainians between February 2022 and December 2024, with 9,558 of those allocated in 2024.
While fewer people arrived from Ukraine, applications for international protection increased by 40% in 2024, reports RTE.
However, the Department of Justice has since reported a 40% drop in international protection applications in 2025.
Last year, Ireland accounted for 1.86% of the EU total of 997,350 applications, the EMN said, compared with 1.17% in 2023, reports RTE.
Nigeria, Jordan and Pakistan were the three main countries of origin. Jordan showed the largest rise, while the most significant fall was in applications from Algeria.
Regarding International Protection Office (IPO) decisions last year, the report states the IPO “significantly scaled up decision making”, reports RTE.
2024 recorded a 56% rise in the number of decisions issued compared with the year before.
Despite this, the median processing time for completed IPO cases in 2024 remained at 16 months, reports RTE.
Of the 13,108 decisions issued, 70% were refusals, with some (35% of final decisions) later overturned on appeal or review.
A total of 6,895 third-country nationals were refused entry in 2024, representing a 7% drop from 2023 and a 25% fall from 2022, reports RTE.
Refusal rates for Albanian nationals more than doubled, rising from 435 in 2023 to 1,010 in 2024, making Albanians the nationality most frequently refused entry.
The number of South Africans refused at the border almost halved, dropping from 605 in 2023 to 330 in 2024, reports RTE.
There was also a dramatic 345% rise in voluntary returns between 2023 and 2024.
The 2024 figure, 935, is highlighted by the EMN as significantly higher than that recorded in any other year over the past decade, reports RTE.
The report notes that the inability to provide accommodation to all asylum applicants worsened in 2024, with almost 6,000 individuals not offered accommodation on arrival throughout the year.
In terms of legal migration, which represents the largest share of entries, 2024 saw a 27% rise in employment permits issued following a decline in 2023, reports RTE.
As in previous years, the health and social work sector (32%) and the information and communication sector (17%) were the most common recipients of employment permits.
However, increases were seen across all areas, with a notable rise in permits granted within the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector, reports RTE.
Residence permit data shows that 24% of first permits given to non-EEA nationals in 2024 were for employment, 48% for education, 5% for family reasons and another 5% for international protection.
The remaining permits fall under ‘other’ categories, reports RTE.
The EMN report’s findings were based on official published sources, including Government reports, annual publications, and data from the Central Statistics Office and Eurostat.
Report author Keire Murphy described 2024 as a year marked by “mixed pressures”, reports RTE.
She said the strong demand for employment permits demonstrated that the system was responding to gaps in the Irish labour market.
“However, significant capacity pressures persisted in 2024, especially in the international protection processing and accommodation system,” she said, reports RTE.
Tell us your thoughts in the Facebook post and share this with your friends.
