The European Migration Network’s newly released annual review shows a complex picture for Ireland’s inbound flows. Total immigration fell 16 % in the year to April 2025—largely because arrivals from Ukraine stabilised—yet first-time asylum applications in 2024 jumped 40 %, driven mainly by nationals of Nigeria, Jordan and Pakistan.
Preliminary Justice Department data suggest the trend reversed in 2025, with protection applications down 40 % year-on-year, indicating that tighter border screening and faster processing may be having an effect. Even so, Ireland accounted for 1.86 % of the EU’s nearly one million asylum claims in 2024, disproportionately high relative to its population.
![EMN report: overall immigration down 16 % but asylum claims to Ireland up 40 % in 2024]()
For employers, the figures have two implications. First, fewer Ukrainian arrivals mean a tighter labour pipeline for sectors that benefited from temporary-protection work exemptions. Second, the high asylum workload could lengthen processing times for applicants seeking work permission after six months in the system, complicating hiring plans.
Policy advisers expect the data to influence forthcoming debates on salary thresholds and regional dispersal quotas in the Employment Permits system. The EMN will publish an occupation-level breakdown in March, which talent-acquisition teams are watching closely.
Preliminary Justice Department data suggest the trend reversed in 2025, with protection applications down 40 % year-on-year, indicating that tighter border screening and faster processing may be having an effect. Even so, Ireland accounted for 1.86 % of the EU’s nearly one million asylum claims in 2024, disproportionately high relative to its population.
For employers, the figures have two implications. First, fewer Ukrainian arrivals mean a tighter labour pipeline for sectors that benefited from temporary-protection work exemptions. Second, the high asylum workload could lengthen processing times for applicants seeking work permission after six months in the system, complicating hiring plans.
Policy advisers expect the data to influence forthcoming debates on salary thresholds and regional dispersal quotas in the Employment Permits system. The EMN will publish an occupation-level breakdown in March, which talent-acquisition teams are watching closely.
Source: VisaHQ Global Mobility News
