Fears expressed in the run up to EU enlargement in May 2004 that a flood of cheap labour from eastern and central Europe would damage the Irish economy have proved wide of the mark.
Unemployment is at an all-time low of 4.2 per cent and the economy is predicted to grow this year by around 5 per cent in the Republic.
However, a new report published yesterday by the Brussels-based civil rights group European Citizen Action Service illustrates that early predictions of a flood of migrants were accurate.
Report on the Free Movement of Workers in the EU-25 highlights that, per head of population, the Republic has attracted six times as many migrant workers as Britain in the year that followed enlargement in May 2004.
During this period, 85,000 migrants from accession states registered for a personal public service number from the Department of Social and Family Affairs, which enabled them to work in the State. By the end of June, the number of migrants registered to work in the Republic reached 104,746 and it is estimated that about 7,000 workers from the 10 new EU member states arrive in Ireland every month.
The most popular states from which migrants to the Republic travel from are Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Bank of Ireland has even announced plans to make its services available in the Polish language, says the report.
The Republic's attractiveness as a location for workers travelling from the 10 new EU states is boosted by its strong economy, flexible working practices and use of the English language. It also benefited because state agencies such as Fás had been targeting the states for recruits since 1999, says Julianna Traser, author of the report.
The document highlights the the huge benefits that this new migration has had on the British and Irish economies.
The 175,000 migrants from the 10 new EU member states that travelled to Britain in the year following accession generated £500 million (€725 million) in economic output.
No separate output figures are detailed for the contribution of new migrants working in the Republic, however Ms Traser acknowledges that they would have generated similar levels of activity in proportion to their numbers.
Sweden, the only other original member of the EU 15 to offer full working rights to migrants from the accession states, attracted 21,800 new residents in the seven months after enlargement.
Migration to the other 12 EU states was regulated by quotas or prohibited under rules introduced following the accession negotiations that took place before enlargement. However, the report concludes that these restrictions have had little impact on migration.
Instead, factors such as labour shortage, wage differences and unemployment are much more important.
The European Commission is due to make recommendations in the autumn on whether member states should extend their restrictions.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/VR3765MFOBH2NMV2QNICYDF67M.png)