The number of people at work in the State is set to reach two million for the first time this year, with foreign nationals making up around 9 per cent of the workforce, new figures today show.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) Quarterly National Household Survey indicates an increase of 87,000 people in the workplace in 2005 over the previous year. At 4.7 per cent, it is the biggest increase in six years.
There are now 1.98 million people in employment in the State. With the economy predicted to grow by at least 5 per cent in 2006, the two million figure is likely to be breached.
Women made up fractionally more than half the increase and now constitute of 42 per cent of the workforce. Part-time work constituted over 14,300 of the 38,400 more women at work in the last quarter of last year.
The CSO estimated that the increase in non-nationals in employment accounted for around half of the overall year-on-year increase.
Today's figures show a growing presence of foreign nationals. In the fourth quarter of 2005 they accounted for 21 per cent of workers in the hospitality industry and around 10 per cent in construction and manufacturing.
Foreign nationals accounted for 4,500 of the overall increase of 5,700 in the numbers unemployed between the fourth quarters of 2004 and 2005.
There were 91,300 persons unemployed in the fourth quarter of 2005, representing a seasonal decrease of 5,400 in the quarter but an annual increase of 5,700 on the fourth quarter of 2004.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased slightly in the quarter to 4.4 per cent.
The CSO said "tentative estimates" suggest there are 253,500 foreign nationals in the State aged 15 and over, with just over 171,000 in employment and almost 12,000 unemployed.
Nationals of the EU accession states were, predictably, the fastest growing cohort in this category, with the numbers in the labour force increasing from just under 30,000 in the last quarter of 2004 to over 65,000 at the end of year.
A debate on the increased supply of labour created by the influx of foreign nationals has arisen in recent months, with the Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte expressing particular concern about the potential effect on specific sectors.
The greatest increase in non-national workers was in construction where the numbers employed increased by almost 10,000 year-on-year. Manufacturing showed an increase of just over 7,000 non-national employed, despite the overall decline in employment in the sector