THE FLOW of Latvian migrants to Ireland is slowing after an initial surge that followed the country's accession to the EU in 2004, according to Ireland's Ambassador in Riga.
Figures compiled by the Department of Social and Family Affairs show that in 2007, almost 129,000 people from those accession countries that joined the EU since 2004 were issued with PPS numbers. When Romania and Bulgaria, who joined in 2007, are excluded, this is a fall of more than 25,000 on 2006.
The number of Latvians receiving PPS numbers fell from 7,954 in 2006 to 4,674 last year.
The downward trend has continued this year, with only 557 Latvians being given PPS numbers in the first two months of the year, compared to 887 over the same period in 2007.
Tim Mawe, Ireland's Ambassador to Latvia, suggested that the decline could be explained in part by the initial "surge" in emigration to Ireland after May 2004, when Latvia and nine other states joined the EU.
"There was probably a dam-burst built up of people who wanted to go for a long time and now could go," he told The Irish Times. "The second element is that, at the start, they could only go to three countries - Ireland, Britain and Sweden. Now they can go to many more."
Mr Mawe said data on PPS numbers failed to capture the extent of short-term mobility among Latvians, some of whom return to Ireland several times but re-use the same number.
Official data shows there has been a significant decline in the numbers of citizens from the EU's 12 newest members claiming PPS numbers so far this year. In the first two months of the year, 14,409 new numbers were registered, compared to 23,226 in the same period in 2007.
Dr Jacek Rosa, deputy head of mission at the Polish embassy, said last month that while Ireland was still an attractive destination - overall, the number of Poles coming here remains quite high - the economic slowdown and improving employment prospects in Poland were leading to an easing of the immigrant flow.
There is also evidence that appears to imply that, while fewer eastern Europeans are coming to Ireland, more émigrés are also returning home. Analysing data on migration to Ireland in the year ending April 2007, figures published by the Central Statistics Office last December showed that Ireland's emigration rate was at the highest level since 1990.