ESRI says 'no systematic difference' in welfare receipt rates between immigrants and Irish-born

Immigrants in Ireland overall make 'positive fiscal contribution, fully financing their share of public services'

A new report by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) shows there is "no overall evidence" of systematic difference in welfare receipt rates between immigrants and Irish‑born people in Ireland. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

A new report by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) shows there is "no overall evidence" of systematic difference in welfare receipt rates between immigrants and Irish‑born people in Ireland. 

The report, entitled Social transfers utilisation among migrants and Irish-born in Ireland, analysed data from the Central Statistics Office to assess whether immigrants in Ireland were more or less likely to be in receipt of social welfare payments compared to Irish-born people. The report found no general pattern of immigrants being more likely to be in receipt of welfare, with the differences "generally small".

"We would argue that there is no overall evidence of a systematic difference in welfare receipt rates between immigrants and the native‑born," the report's authors Anousheh Alamir, Alan Barrett,  and Bertrand Maître said.

In 2024, 56% of Irish-born people were in receipt of unemployment, disability, or family/children-related benefit, compared to 61% of immigrants. "Looking at each benefit type separately, we can see that the observation of higher rates of receipt by immigrants is driven by the family allowance category," the report said. "In 2024, 47% of the Irish-born were receiving such a payment compared to 58% of immigrants. There are no statistically significant differences between immigrants and the Irish-born with regard to unemployment payments. For disability payments, immigrants in each of the three years are found to have lower rates of receipt."

Looking at unemployment-related payments, the rate of receipt for the Irish-born over the period 2014 to 2024 was 16%. The rates of receipt are lower for immigrants from EU-West (13%) and Asia (12%) but higher for EU-East (21%) and Africa (21%).

"To the extent that some groups of immigrants were found to have higher rates of receipt when we considered the full sample, this seems to be more related to immigrants experiencing longer periods of unemployment, especially during economic downturns, than a greater probability of receiving payments in any given period of unemployment," the report said.

The report also said available data suggests that the proportion of Ukrainians in receipt of working age supports fell from over 70% in mid-2022 to just over 40% in mid-2025.

A second report published by the ESRI on Wednesday, entitled, Literature review on the fiscal impacts of immigration, analysed international literature on the impact of immigration on public funds. It found that immigrants in Ireland overall "make a positive fiscal contribution, fully financing their share of public services". The report said during the post-recession period, both foreign-born and Irish-born residents had a negative fiscal contribution, due to budget deficits. On average over the last 20 years, foreign-born residents have made a higher fiscal contribution than Irish-born residents.

"Migrants are younger and, on average, more likely to be employed than the non-migrant population, contributing to their positive fiscal impact. Non-EU migrants in Ireland have very high employment and tertiary education rates," the report said.