Irish emigrants planning to return home must be aware that they will face costs as well as benefits, Minister for Family and Social Affairs Séamus Brennan warned in London yesterday.
More than 61,000 Irish emigrants have returned to live in Ireland over the past three years and this trend has continued into 2005. In 1989 almost the same number emigrated from Ireland.
Ireland's economic success and employment opportunities are attracting people back, Mr Brennan said. However, he urged those considering returning to explore all aspects of the change.
Mr Brennan was speaking at the Irish Centre in London, where he launched the new edition of the Returning to Ireland guide. Now in its fifth edition, it includes information on social welfare, health, pensions, taxation, education and accommodation. It is published by Emigrant Advice and funded by the Department of Social and Family Affairs.
Mr Brennan said he would like to see more emigrants returning.
"One has only to look to the estimate that Ireland will need up to 50,000 workers from outside the State each year for years to come to meet emerging employment needs, to see the extent of the work opportunities."
However, he also urged caution: "Many Irish emigrants naturally cherish a deep aspiration to return to the land of their birth to work or retire. However, the Ireland of today is often a very different one to the country they left."