No general pattern exists of immigrants being more likely to receive social welfare compared to native-born Irish citizens, according to a new ESRI report on welfare receipt rates.
The report, which used Central Statistics Office data to assess whether immigrants in Ireland are more or less likely to receive welfare payments than Irish-born people, examined a broad range of payments including unemployment, sickness and disability, and family and children-related payments including universal child benefit, reports RTE.
In 2024, 56% of the Irish-born received at least one of these payments compared to 61% of immigrants, though the report noted that because universal payments reflect different family structures, a more nuanced picture emerges when examining specific payments and demographic factors.
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On unemployment-related payments, both immigrants and native-born had an equal claim rate of 9%, while immigrants had a disability benefit rate of 4% compared to 6% for the Irish-born, reports RTE.
A more complex picture emerged when immigrants were separated by global region of birth — with EU-West (13%) and Asian immigrants (12%) having lower unemployment payment rates than the Irish-born (16%), while EU-East (21%) and African immigrants (21%) had higher rates.
A second ESRI report reviewing international literature on immigration’s impact on public finances found that on average over the past 20 years, foreign-born residents have made a higher fiscal contribution than Irish-born residents, with work-related migration generally having the most positive fiscal impact, reports RTE.
In Ireland, migrants are younger and on average more likely to be employed than the non-migrant population, and non-EU migrants in particular have very high employment and tertiary education rates, contributing to a higher fiscal impact compared to non-migrants. Both reports were funded by the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, reports RTE.
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