Employment and working conditions of migrant workers — Ireland
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This comparative analytical report looks at the working conditions of immigrants to Ireland. The report identifies sources of information on what is a recent phenomenon in Ireland and suggests that because inward migration is of recent origin, this may explain the limited volume of information available. The report suggests that Ireland could usefully learn from countries which have experienced immigration for a longer period.
1. Sources of information on migrant workers
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Are there studies or analyses in your country which cover the employment and working conditions of migrant workers?If so, please specify for each of these sources:
a) The type: 1) specific chapters in general working conditions’ surveys; 2) ad-hoc surveys on migrants’ working conditions; 3) case studies - ie studies of specific situations, such as on certain nationalities, local areas and the like - on migrants’ working conditions, 4) other relevant reports on migrants’ working conditions which have been regularly or recently published.
b) the authors of such studies or analyses (national statistical office - only if distinct from regular surveys which are included in Eurostat data sets, like Labour Force Surveys -, labour inspectorates, bodies responsible for health and safety at the workplace, social security bodies, other public bodies, employers, trade unions and NGOs, universities or research institutes);
c) the definition of migrant worker they use. Are migrant workers who acquired citizenship or “second generations” included in such definition?;
d) at which level these studies are carried out (national, sector, regional, other); and
e) present briefly the methodology and structure of such studies or analyses, including the scope and focus of the questions on migrant workers.
f) If available, please provide links to relevant websites.
Viewed from a historic perspective inward migration is a new phenomenon as far as Ireland is concerned. Perhaps for that reason most studies of migrants’ employment and working conditions are of recent publications.
The most recent of these studies Immigrants in a Booming Economy: Analysing their Earnings and Welfare Dependence (by Alan Barrett and Yvonne McCarthy: published by Institute for Labour Research, Bonn) as well as providing a valuable insight into an aspect of lists a number of past studies (see list below). The study looks at migrants’ earnings, education, employment participation, age and gender.
Another recently published study (Migrants Experience of Racism and Discrimination in Ireland by Frances McGinnity, Philip O’Connell, Emma Quinn and James Williams, published by The Economic and Social Research Institute examines migrants experiences of racism and discrimination.
Both of these studies are available on the ESRI’s website, www.esri.ie.
Other studies to note include:
The Labour Market Characteristics and Labour Market Forces of Immigrants in Ireland: authors - A. Barrett, A Bergin, D Duffy: Published - Economic and Social Review, Vol 37, No 1.
A Note on the Educational Profile and Occupational Attainment of Immigrants in Ireland:
Authors - A Barrett, D Duffy: Published – ESRI Quarterly Economic Commentary Autumn 2006
Earnings, Inequality, Returns to Education and Immigration into Ireland: authors –
A Barrett, J Fitzgerald, B Nolan: published – Labour Economics, Vol 9, No 5, 2002.
Asylum Seekers and the Right to Work in Ireland: authors -B Fanning, S Loyal, C Staunton: published – Irish Refuge Council.
Apart from these specific studies valuable up-to-date information on the employment status of migrant workers is provided by the Central Statistics Office’s (CSO) National Quarterly Household Surveys (available on the CSO website, www.cso.ie) and the FAS Quarterly Labour Market Commentary (available on the FAS website, www.fas.ie).
2. Information on migrant workers
Please present the results of the above mentioned studies and analyses. The questions below provide indications on the aspects we would like you to cover in your answers, if relevant and significant information are available. If the variables used in your sources do not match precisely the ones indicated below, use those available, providing a brief description if needed.
Questions 2.1, 2.3 and 2.4 should be answered only if sources other that those already integrated in the Eurostat data sets are available and significant (see the introductory section for the Eurostat web pages which should be consulted).
In each case, state clearly the source and, if available, provide relevant links.
Moreover, indicate whether data include illegal migration and, whenever possible, distinguish between legal and illegal migrants.
2.1 Migrant population (including recent trends in the 2000-2005 period)
a) Total number (by gender, age, nationality, education level).
According to Ireland’s Central Statistics Office Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS), the total migrant population in Ireland in the first quarter of 2007 stood at 319,800.
Data provided by the Economic and Social Research Institute indicates that while 44.2% of the native Irish adult population is aged between 20 and 44 years, the corresponding figure for the immigrant population is 81.5% - a figure clearly weighted towards younger aged groups. Meanwhile, there is little difference between natives and immigrants on gender breakdown, with the immigrant population having almost the same proportion of males as the native group.
b) As a percentage of total population (by gender, age, nationality, education level).
2.2 Illegal immigration (including recent trends in the 2000-2005 period)
1. Please provide all data/estimates available concerning:
a)Total number.
b) Nationality.
c) Distribution by sectors.
d) Distribution by occupations.
No information on illegal immigration levels.
2. Please briefly illustrate the methodology used to collect/generate such data/estimates.
2.3 Migrant active population (including recent trends in the 2000-2005 period)
Total number (by gender, age, nationality, education level).
In terms of the active migrant population in Ireland, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) estimates that 280,300 foreign nationals aged 15 or over live in Ireland. Of these the latest CSO figures on employment rates in Ireland, the Quarterly National Household Survey – Quarter 3 2006, records that 199,600 of these people were in active employment: 15,900 were unemployed.
The CSO does not give a detailed country by country breakdown of the numbers of non-nationals working in Ireland. The CSO statistics show that of the non-nationals in employment 38,800 are from the United Kingdom, 24,500 from the EU15 and 82,000 from the EU accession states. A further 54,400 are from other countries.
b) As a percentage of active population (by gender, age, nationality, education level).
The latest CSO figures classify 2,178,100 persons as being economically active though their participation in the labour force. Over two hundred thousand (215,400) of the economically active workforce are non-Irish nationals. On the basis of these figures practically 10% of the Irish labour force are non-Irish nationals. These figures are not broken down by gender, age, nationality or education level.
c) Employed (by gender, age, nationality, education level).
The latest figures on employment rates in Ireland, the Central Statistics Office, Quarterly National Household Survey – Quarter 3 2006, records that employment in Ireland grew by 83,000 or 4.2% over the previous twelve months. Non-nationals are tentatively estimated to account for 48.5% (40,500 people) of the growth.
d) As a percentage of total employment (by gender, age, nationality, education level).
Data from the ESRI on educational level indicates that over a half of immigrants (54.2%) have third level qualifications, compared with just over a quarter (27.3%) of the native population – so immigrants are more highly educated. At the other end of the educational distribution, while 32.9% of the native population have only lower secondary qualifications or less, only 15.1% of the immigrant population have this low level of attainment.
e) Specific rates of: participation, employment, unemployment (by gender, age, nationality, education level).
Data from the ESRI shows a labour force rate of 63.1% for immigrants, 64.8% for UK migrants specifically, and 76% for rest of EU-15, as against 58.1% for the native Irish population. The unemployment rates are 6.8% for immigrants and 4.2% for natives, and so in relative terms there is a substantial divergence.
f) Do the abovementioned indicators vary significantly according with the nationality of migrant workers (for instance, a certain nationality is significantly more or less represented in active population or unemployment? If such variations exist, which are the reasons put forward to explain them?
Yes. According to ESRI data, 45.8% of Irish people in the labour force are in full-time employment, compared to 62.9% for the rest of the EU-15. In the category ‘others not economically active’, the figure for native Irish is 41.5%, while the figure for the rest of the EU-15 is 23.4%. The unemployment rate for Irish workers is lower at 4.2%, compared to 4.9% for the rest of EU-15, and 8.4% for the UK.
2.4 The distribution of migrant workers across sectors and occupations (including recent trends in the 2000-2005 period)
a) Are migrant workers over- or under-represented in specific sectors or occupations? If so, specify which sectors and occupations. Please distinguish whenever relevant or possible between men and women.
The CSO Quarterly National Household Survey – Quarter 3 2006 lists the numbers of nationals and non-nationals working in each sector. These figures have been translated in to percentages in the Table below. As the overall number of non-nationals in the Irish workforce is just under 10% of the workforce, the assumption should be that any sector where more than 10% of the workforce comprises non-nationals, non-nationals are over-represented and where the number falls below 10% they are under-represented .
| Sector | Irish nationals | Non-nationals |
| Agriculture/forestry/fishing | 94.8% | 4.2% |
| Other production industries* | 89.2% | 10.8% |
| Construction | 87.3% | 12.7% |
| Wholesale/retail | 91.7% | 8.3% |
| Hotels/restaurants | 75.5% | 24.5% |
| Transport/storage/communications | 92.3% | 7.7% |
| Financial/business services | 90.7% | 9.3% |
| Public administration/defence | 98.8% | 1.2% |
| Education | 95.4% | 4.6% |
| Health | 93.9% | 5.1% |
| Other services | 90.5% | 9.5% |
* Includes manufacturing and mining
On the basis that migrants account for nearly 10% of the Irish labour force it would seem that non-national workers are over-represented in the hotels/restaurants sector and under-represented in the public service, agricultural and education sectors.
b) What are the possible reasons of such over- or under-representation? Are specific skill shortages filled by migrants? Are there specific policies devised to attract migrant workers in certain sectors or occupations? Please distinguish whenever relevant or possible between men and women.
It is clear that migrant workers are disproportionately represented in the hotels/restaurants and construction sectors, where there is continued high demand for labour that cannot be filled by indigenous workers. There is also an issue that native workers appear increasingly reluctant to fill these jobs.
c) Does the presence in the different sectors or occupations vary significantly according with the nationality of the migrant workers (for instance, a certain nationality is significantly more or less represented in cleaning, health, or in managerial position or in elementary occupations? If such variations exist, which are the reasons put forward to explain them?
The published figures do not offer an answer to this question.
2.5 The contractual relations of migrants (including recent trends in the 2000-2005 period)
a) Extent of undeclared employment (men, women). As a reference, please provide the same indicators for nationals.
Insufficient information available.
b) Employment status: self-employed with employees, self-employed without employees, employee (men, women). As a reference, please provide the same indicators for nationals.
From the information available it would seem that most non-nationals are employees.
c) Type of contract: open-ended, fixed-term, temporary agency work (men, women). As a reference, please provide the same indicators for nationals.
There are no precise figures available, but it is safe to assume that the employment contracts of migrants tend to be more open-ended and precarious than nationals. For instance, they are more likely to be agency workers and/or on temporary/fixed-term contracts.
d) Duration of contracts in case of temporary employment (average) (men, women). As a reference, please provide the same indicators for nationals.
Insufficient information available.
e) Retention: employment with the same employer after 12 months (men, women). As a reference, please provide the same indicators for nationals.
No figures on this.
f) Working hours: full-time, part-time, (men, women). As a reference, please provide the same indicators for nationals.
No breakdown of working hours of nationals and migrants available.
g) Diffusion of “second jobs” (men, women) and the professional status in the further job(s) (men, women).
Information not available.
h) Do the abovementioned dimensions vary significantly according with the nationality of the migrant workers (for instance, a certain nationality is significantly more or less represented in undeclared, work, self-employment, temporary employment and so on? If such variations exist, which are the reasons put forward to explain them?
Anecdotal evidence would suggest that migrants from outside the EU and the new EU Accession states are more likely to be employed on so-called atypical, often more insecure, work contracts than Irish nationals or workers from other ‘old’ EU member states.
2.6 Working conditions of migrants (including recent trends in the 2000-2005 period)
Please distinguish per nationality whenever relevant.
Wage levels, compared with national workers;
A discussion paper, Immigrants in a Booming Economy: Analysing their Earnings and Welfare Dependence (published by the Bonn based Institute for the Study of Labour (IZA) and written by Alan Barrett (IZA and the Irish Economic and Social Research Institute [ESRI] and Yvonne McCarthy [ERSI [) found that immigrants earned 18% less than Irish nationals. This calculation took into account educational and work experience factors.
b)The incidence of low-paid jobs (that is, according to the OECD definition, jobs which pay less than two-third of the median wage), compared with national workers.
The IZA discussion paper found that the mean hourly wage for Irish nationals was just over €25, while the corresponding figure for non-nationals was just over €17. This finding should be contrasted with the current national minimum wage rate of €7.65.
c) Working hours, compared with national workers:
- average hours usually worked per week, including overtime;
- average hours of overtime work per week;
- diffusion of long working hours (more than 10 hours a day);
- diffusion of work at unsocial hours (night, weekend);
- diffusion of work on shifts;
- for migrant workers having more than one job, average hours worked per week in such further jobs.
d) Exposure to risks and accidents at work:
- work accident rates for migrant workers and, as a reference, for nationals;
- sectors and occupations where risks of accidents for migrant workers are higher;
- working conditions (vibration, noise, high/low temperatures etc.) in the three sectors where migrant workers are mostly present in your country.
The Health & Safety Authority (HSA), the state agency established by the Irish Government to enforce compliance with occupational health and safety law and to promote awareness of occupational health and safety issues, each year publishes an annual statistical report.
Historically the HSA did not record figures for migrant workers. For the first time in the Authority’s Summary of Fatality, Injury & Illness Statistics 2004-2005 (covering a 12 month period) records the fatalities and injury suffered by migrant workers. The figures for migrant workers are based on the number of accidents reported to the HSA.
During the calendar year 2005 seventy-three people were killed in workplace/work-related accidents. Sixty-four workers were killed. Nine of these were non-Irish nationals: six from EU member states and three from non-EU member states. The HSA report records that the fatality rate per 100,000 workers is 5.6, compared to 3.0 for Irish workers.
Five of the nine non-Irish workers killed were killed in accidents in the construction sector, two were killed in manufacturing, one in the wholesale/retail sector and one in social/community work.
Nine percent of non-fatal injuries reported to the HAS in 2005 were suffered by non-Irish nationals, compared to just 1% in 2000. of the 7,017 accidents reported to the Authority 487 were suffered by other EU nationals and 238 by non-EU nationals. On a sectoral basis the highest percent of accidents suffered by non-Irish national workers were suffered in construction (34.5%), followed by manufacturing (25%), transport/storage/communications (8%), wholesale/retail (7.4%), health/social work (7.9%), hotels/restaurants (4.8%), real estate/renting business (4.8%), with other sectors reporting under 2%..
The figures quoted above are based on the number of accidents reported to the HSA. It should be noted that the Authority believes there is significant under-reporting of accidents: estimated to be between one-third to a half of all accidents.
a) Health outcomes, work-related health problems and occupational illnesses:
- occupational illness rates for migrant workers and, as a reference, for nationals;
- sectors and occupations where risks of work-related health problems for migrant workers are higher.
While the Health & Safety Authority publishes figures on occupational ill-health, the figures do not distinguish between the rates of occupational ill-health suffered by Irish nationals and migrant workers.
f)Existence of information on risks, health and safety at the workplace in the national language of the migrants.If such information is present:i) what is the basis of this presence (law, collective bargaining, firm policy, other);ii) is it present in every sector or workplace? If no, please specify in which sectors and/or workplaces it is present;iii) are there any specific initiatives, including training, on health and safety at the workplace devised specifically for migrant workers? If yes, please specify the initiators and content of such initiatives and whether they are implemented using the language of the migrant workers.
The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 requires employers to provide health and safety training in a language that workers can understand.
The HSA has developed an award winning system to improve safety performance on construction sites: the Safe System of Work Plan (SSWP). The plan operates on the basis of pictograms which can be understood visually. To accompany the SSWP books of forms, the Authority has published explanatory booklets for each of the five construction activities for which SSWPs have been developed. These booklets have been translated into seven different languages (see Table below).
| Activity: book of forms | Language: currently available in |
|---|---|
| House Building | In all eight languages |
| Ground Works | In all eight languages |
| Demolition | In English, Polish and Portuguese |
| Civil Engineering | In all languages except Portuguese |
| New Commercial Building | In all languages except Portuguese |
| Agriculture | In English only |
Apart from the HSA’s initiative, the Construction Industry Federation, the representative body for construction industry employers, has published training material in a number of languages other than English.
At firm level many firms provide training for workers in their native language. This is managed in a two-fold way: by providing materials in the language of the non-national worker and/or by use of pictograms and by using translators to translate trainers’ words.
g) Individual disputes at the workplace which involve migrant workers and, as a reference,
nationals.
2.7 Level of education and occupational position: over-qualification and under-qualification (including recent trends in the 2000-2005 period)
Please distinguish per nationality whenever relevant.
a) The present job position of migrant workers appears to be adequate to their level of education? With reference to this aspect, what is the condition of nationals?
Considering relationship between immigrants educational attainments and the level of earnings, the IZA discussion paper stated the authors could not offer any strong conclusion that the earnings of incomes with third-level degrees from non-English speaking countries differ from those of natives with third level degrees.
2.8 Participation in training and possibilities for competence development (including recent trends in the 2000-2005 period)
Please distinguish per nationality whenever relevant.
a) What is the rate of participation to training during working time of migrant workers (average over the last 12 months) and, as a reference, of nationals?
b) Is the access to other possibilities of competence development (such as apprenticeship) of migrant workers equivalent to that of nationals?
Insufficient information available.
2.9 Career development (including recent trends in the 2000-2005 period)
Please distinguish per nationality whenever relevant.
a) Entry occupations and the pace of career development (compared with those of nationals).
b) Do migrant workers have access to career advancements on an equal basis with nationals?
c) Are there data/information on discrimination in careers between migrants and nationals? If yes, please provide a brief summary of the evidence.
The answer to part C of the question is no. However a number of parliamentarians and campaigners have claimed that migrant workers are not treated as favourably as national workers.
2.10 Union representation and collective bargaining (including recent trends in the 2000-2005 period)
Please distinguish per nationality whenever relevant.
a) Do migrant workers concentrate in non-union workplaces or in less-than-average unionised sectors? If yes, please provide some details.
b) Do migrant workers concentrate in workplaces or sectors where collective bargaining coverage is lower than average? If yes, please provide some details.
c) Union membership and presence among trade union representatives of migrant workers.
Trade unions welcome migrant workers into membership and have undertaken a number of well publicised campaigns on behalf of migrant workers, particularly in the shipping, construction and mushroom farming industries.
2.11 Any other information on employment and working conditions of migrant workers which is relevant for your country. Please distinguish per nationality if relevant.
3. Commentary by the NC
Migrant workers now play a significant role in the Irish economy. Migrant workers now comprise nearly 10% of the workforce. Most migrant workers have only recently arrived in Ireland. Indeed inward migration to Ireland is a recent phenomenon. According to the FAS Quarterly Labour Market Commentary quoted above ‘immigration has been the main source of labour force growth in the year to Q2 2006 accounting for over 50,000 new entrants’. The labour market profile of immigrants in Ireland has shown them to be a young and highly educated group. However, it appears that immigrants experience an occupational gap, in terms of having lower occupational attainment relative to natives.
While the official statistics show that migrant workers can obtain work, some politicians and campaigners have suggested that migrant workers are discriminated against in terms of wages and working conditions. Trade unions have highlighted a number of specific cases of discrimination.
From a public policy perspective – and as the Economic and Social Research Institute has pointed out, the lessons from the recent pattern of inward migration are two-fold. First, while Ireland has benefited from a high-skilled inflow in recent times, there is no guarantee that the inflow will continue to be high skilled. Second, the observation by the ESRI that high-skilled immigrants are not employed at a level that reflects their educational attainment points to a potential problem. But as inward migration is such a recent phenomenon, it will be some years yet before the full impact of this influx of new workers and their families on Irish society can be assessed. Meanwhile Ireland can learn from other EU member states who have longer experience of inward migration.
Herbert Mulligan, IRN