Foreigners help build economy as workforce swells by 3.9%

ALMOST one in three hotel and restaurant workers is a foreigner, according to new figures underlining the importance of immigration to Ireland’s economy.

Figures released by the Government yesterday showed that the labour force — the number of adults available for work — grew by 3.9% to 2,166,700 in the 12 months to March, with the rise fuelled by immigration.

Foreigners now account for about 320,000 of the labour force, according to research by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Highlighting the dependence of the economy on rising number of immigrants, particularly those aged 25 to 34, the CSO said almost 30% of the 120,100 workers in hotels and restaurants were foreigners.

Of the non-Irish workers in the sector, 18,100 were from the European Union accession states such as Poland, compared to 2,000 from Britain and 3,700 from other long-established EU members.

In the construction industry, more than one in eight of the sector’s 282,100 workers are foreigners, who number 38,000.

Of the 28,300 increase in the number of jobs in the construction industry over the past 12 months, about 11,500 positions were filled by foreign workers.

The CSO said the increase in non-Irish workers in the building trade was the largest in any employment sector in the 12 months to March.

Similarly, more than one in eight of the 290,800 who work in factories and other production industries are foreigners, the CSO said.

CSO figures yesterday showed the overall numbers of people in work in the country increased by 76,800, or 3.8%, to stand at 2,074,900 in the year to March.

The number of people officially classed as unemployed grew by 3,600 in the 12 months to stand at 91,800 or 4.2% of the labour force.

Yesterday’s report contained further evidence of the strength of the construction industry, showing how the rise in employment among males has been largely driven by the sector.

Other boom areas included the health and education sectors, managerial jobs and craft industries.

Ulster Bank economist Pat McArdle said the figures were the first big snapshot of the economy this year, and revealed the strength of the employment market.

But he said the number of jobs being created in the economy was slowing down.

“The rate of job creation is declining but there is little sign of the doom and gloom created by job loss announcements earlier this year: net job creation is still strongly positive,” he said.

www.cso.ie