EU Enlargement, Migration from Central and Eastern Europe and Their Effects on Migration Policy in Ireland

This paper uses data from the Quarterly National Household Survey and monthly labour force registrations to document the massive inflow of long-term and short-term immigrants to Ireland from Central and Eastern Europe following EU enlargement in May 2004. It shows that although the scale of these inflows was not expected by employers, trade unions or Government, the labour market was able to absorb them without adverse macroeconomic effects on employment or earnings. On the face of it this looks like a success story. Nevertheless, the Irish Government has decided not to allow the same labour market access to nationals of Bulgaria and Romania on their accession to the EU as it did to migrants from Central and Eastern Europe. It is argued that the reasons for this change in policy lie in microeconomic effects of immigration on the labour market, the failure of most of the older EU countries to open their labour markets following reviews of their experience since the enlargement in May 2004, and the lack of adequate resources for implementing labour law in Ireland.