WORK & STUDENT VISAS BIGGEST CONTRIBUTOR TO MASS IMMIGRATION?
- Finbar O'Marcaigh
- Oct 29, 2024
- 6 min read
Public discussion around Ireland's mass immigration crisis has been focussed on the role played by the numbers of IPAS applications made by individuals from outside of the EU area. This laser-focussing on IPAS applicants and the IPAS system itself has been encouraged by the political classes in Ireland, a means of diverting attention away from the economic aspects of mass immigration that are manifested in the Republic's work and student visa systems.
Before diving into some of the statistics that will prove beyond a doubt that IPAS is a drop in the ocean compared to immigration through visas, it is important that the argument about “good” and “bad” forms of immigration is acknowledged and addressed. Even before this, establishing a shared understanding of what immigration is is essential. An acceptable existing definition is that from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) which defines 'immigration' as,
“Immigration - means the action by which a person establishes his or her usual residence in the State for a period that is, or is expected to be, of at least 12 months, having previously been usually resident in another Member State or a third country.”
The author has often been involved in discussions centred on mass immigration, conversations that have inevitably meandered towards an urge to find a 'middle-ground' that results in the classification of immigrants into two distinct groups, namely those that come to work (good) and those who come to “live off the system” (bad). Often what is meant is that those who have come through the work visa system are “good” immigrants, and those who come through IPAS are “bad” immigrants.
For those that argue immigration at current rates is creating and compounding a crisis in housing and public services, and this is the position of CASIP, the categorisation of immigration to Ireland into the “good” and the “bad”, the “working” and the “idle”, is a moot point. Each instance of immigration has attached ancillary requirements such as a home, access to medical services, access to overstretched infrastructure such a sewage treatment plants. If those services are not there to meet demand, then they are not there irrespective of whom the user is, their domiciliary origins or why they have come to Ireland in the case of new arrivals.
The political classes in Ireland both in government and opposition (other than a few brave independent TDs), have consistently pointed to the IPAS system each and every time mass immigration is mentioned and in doing so they themselves are baiting against IPAS applicants with the expectation that the public will be divided along a false humanitarian battle line, the humanitarians against the fascists. To a large degree this is what has panned out thus far even in the teeth of available facts that deal a crushing blow to those that encourage arguments about “good” and “bad” immigrants or 'humanitarianism' against 'fascism'. The truth is that the State laisez-fair economic approach of growth, growth, growth, no matter what the social cost, is brewing a societal crisis of enormous magnitude. The rapacious demand for cheap labour and quick, unjustified profits is driving mass immigration into Ireland and this fact is being obscured by manipulative moral arguments bent on turning citizen against citizen.
European Migration Network (ESRI) databases show there were 13,220 asylum applications made in the Irish Republic in 2023. No doubt the ratification of the EU Migration Treaty this year will double the figures, as will the shutting down of borders in EU partner states such as Germany, Poland and Holland, but still the figures appear low in comparison to the obvious demographic changes in Irish society over the last three years in particular. According to CSO estimates, there were 141,600 immigrants arrived into Ireland in 2023, with a net figure of 77,600 when emigration out of Ireland is accounted for. None-the-less, 141,600 people immigrated to Ireland in 2023 and 13,220 were IPAS applicants. This means that 128,380 immigrants to Ireland in 2023 were not IPAS applicants.
At this juncture we are met with a decision to be made. Are we to continue our analysis using the gross (141,600) or net (77,600) figure of immigration into Ireland in 2023. If the discussion revolved around trying to establish the impact of immigration on specific demographics, national culture and the likes, then the gross figure may be more appropriate. As this article is overshadowed by concerns around impact on housing and services, it would be most prudent to engage with the net figure of 77,600 immigrants into Ireland in 2023. Subtracting the number of IPAS applications for that year, the result is 64,380 immigrants that have not entered the country via the IPAS system.
To find the answer to how many new arrivals other than IPAS applicants entered the state in 2023 we must escape from the confines of the 'IPAS Argument' and broaden our field of view to include the recipient benefactors of economic immigration, the businesses of Ireland, many of whom are taking advantage of lax work and student visa systems to import workers to meet their insatiable appetite for profit-at-any-cost.
An overview of the figure for 2023 presents in undeniable form the reality that the mass majority of immigrant entering the state are doing so through work and student visa systems. In 2023 there were 30,981 work visas issued to people from outside the EU according to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the majority coming to work in health and social care, IT, Construction and agriculture. That is over twice the number arriving using work permits than arriving through the IPAS system. Bear in mind that the 30,981 figure only represents those that have come to work lawfully.
Subtracting the 30,981 work permit holders from the 64,380 immigrants arrived in Ireland NOT through IPAS in 2023, we are left with 33,399 persons who arrived into Ireland without using the IPAS system nor the work visa system.
Establishing solid figures for the numbers of international students in Ireland is not as clear cut as ascertaining the numbers of work visas issued. There are short and long term student visas. Certain students from countries outside the EU don't require visas to study such as students from Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Chile. There are those come to study the English language, and those that come to access Higher Education. Bringing the figures together into lump sums is difficult. As this article is primarily written to highlight the fact that resources are very limited irrespective of the method of immigration into Ireland, a failure to be numerically precise might be forgiven.
Recalling the CSO definition that 'immigration' is the relocation of a person's residence to Ireland from another country for no less than an expected twelve months, many international students fall into the category of being Immigrants into Ireland, especially those accessing higher education and those that do not require a student visa. According to the Higher Education Authority there were 35,140 “Internationally domiciled” students in Ireland in 2022/23 studying Higher Education, mainly business, marketing and health sciences. The US remains the most common country of origin for Internationally domiciled students (14.5%), followed by India (13.5%), and China (11.3%).
International students studying English numbered 128,397 in 2023 although this figure requires significant contextualisation. The majority of English language students came from EU states and were visiting for short stays. The majority were children.
However, 36,916 adults travelled from outside the EU to study English in Ireland in 2022/3 with 27,098 English students arriving from countries for which the Irish state does not require a study visa such as Brazil (over 50%). Non-EU English language students remained on average four times longer in terms of study weeks than students from EU countries.
Although on the face of it English language students remaining for 15 to 20 study weeks does not fit the CSO criteria of 'Immigration', the reality is that many of those arriving as students are in fact also economic migrants in that they work and do not return home on the expiration of their original study visa but remain when they can. There are no available statistics on the enforcement of student visa limitations that the author could find but anecdotal evidence suggests a significant number of 'students' find remaining in Ireland when their study visa has expired achievable. If for the purpose of the exercise we estimate that 50% of adult English language students in Ireland from outside of the EU will remain in Ireland for more than 12 months, that equates to 18,458 English language students that may also be classified as immigrants. This is a conservative estimate given the majority do not require a visa at all.
Adding the International adult student immigration numbers, the final estimate is 53,598 students remaining one year or more in 2023. Summing up work visa issuance for 2023 with the numbers of adult student- based immigration in the same year we come to a figure of 84,579 persons. Each one of these persons, workers and students, requires housing and access to services.
There is little doubt that IPAS application figures are set to increase significantly over the coming year further straining the housing market and services. Equally, if we as a nation are going to properly address the problems of uncontrolled mass-immigration into Ireland then we must be willing to widen our understanding of mass-immigration to mean those coming to Ireland using legal means such as work visas and student visas, numbers that are also growing annually.
CASIP support a whole-system approach to analysing and understanding mass immigration and it's impact on our housing and services. That's why we are calling for an end to non-essential immigration into Ireland for two years providing the state the window to assess and plan for a sensible, balanced economy and society.
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