Some 336,000 people are expected to immigrate into the Republic of Ireland in the six years to 2006, according to a document underlying the Government's immigration policy.
The incoming workers will fill 75 per cent of the job vacancies arising during the six-year life of the £41 billion National Development Plan, says the document, which was released under the Freedom Of Information Act.
The Report of the Inter-Departmental/Agency Group on Immigration Policy questions the thinking behind the National Development Plan in the light of the level of immigration involved.
"These projections raise issues relating to the objectives of the economic growth and the benefits flowing therefrom, which should receive attention and debate," it says.
The report was prepared for the Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms Harney, early last year but was never published.
The single largest group of new workers will be people coming to fill vacancies created as a result of continued emigration by Irish people, according to the group. A total of 112,000 potential workers - an average of 16,000 a year - are expected to leave the State over the life of the plan despite a continued economic boom. They will have to be replaced by immigrants.
Another 88,000 immigrant workers, or 12,600 a year, will be needed to fill jobs created as a direct result of the huge investment envisaged in the national plan. The balance of the 336,000 new arrivals will be dependants of the people coming to take up jobs.
No figure has been published for immigration into Ireland last year but the report predicts that more than 50 per cent of the 336,000 expected immigrants will arrive in the period between 2,000 and 2002. It predicted immigration of 72,000 last year and 49,000 this year.
No further work was done on the recommendation that the thinking behind the National Development Plan be re-examined, according to the Department of Enterprise and Employment. "It was something the committee felt should be included. It was asking whether it was right that economic growth should be pursued purely for its own sake," said an official.
The report predicts that around half of all immigrants between now and 2006 will be returning "Irish emigrants". However, there are still question marks over the wisdom - in terms of costs and benefits to the economy - of encouraging such an influx into the State.
"A net inflow of such volumes of people will place additional pressure on domestic and social physical infrastructure," the report says.
The result, it warns, will be continued overheating in the housing market and transport congestion. It will place extra pressure on services, such as education, health and the social security system.
In the short term, there is a strong case for significant immigration to meet labour market demands. However, the group also warned that such "pressing needs of the near term should . . . be balanced against the potential threats of the medium term in shaping economic immigration policy".
