The government of Ireland announced major changes to its migration policy on Wednesday in an effort to reduce migration to the country. The measures include stricter rules for family reunification applications and tougher citizenship requirements.
Last year, Ireland's population of 5.46 million increased by 1.6 percent, seven times the EU average. Ireland’s Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan on Wednesday (November 26) said that this increase "requires a policy response."
O’Callaghan added that the population growth was placing "extremely high" pressure on the nation's ability to provide services and housing. O’Callaghan said the growth was "worrying".
Ireland also registered an increase in the number of people applying for asylum in the country in 2024, up to a record 18,651, compared to 13,276 the previous year, reported the French news agency Agence France Presse (AFP).
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Growing tensions
Ireland's population increase has been reflected in growing tensions among some sections of society. Net migration has almost doubled since 2022 and stands at an average of 72,000 a year, reported Reuters.
The Irish Finance Ministry has also reported that the government has noted an "unprecedented demand" for employment permits and associated family reunification. Many of those requests, it said, came from Ukrainian refugees.
There have been several violent protests outside accommodation used to house asylum seekers and migrants in Ireland, which have resulted to damage to property, fires, injuries and a spate of arrests.
In August, members of the Indian migrant community protested in front of the office of Ireland's Prime Minister, following reports of increasing attacks on South Asian migrants in the country.
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New measures approved by cabinet
The new measures were approved by the Irish cabinet on Wednesday, and seemed to echo the stricter measures being proposed in Ireland’s UK neighbor.
The stricter rules include tightening up the eligibility for citizenship as well as making it harder to apply for family reunification if you come from outside the European Economic Area (EEA).
The government has underlined that it recognizes the "valuable contribution" that many migrants make to the country’s economy and society, particularly in the fields of health care, but if you do wish to bring your family to Ireland, you will have to prove that you have the means to support them financially.
From now on, in order to apply for family reunification, a migrant worker would need to demonstrate they had a median average annual wage of over 44,000 euros and have adequate accommodation to support them.
Last week, some of these migrants, many of whom work in healthcare services, demonstrated outside the Irish parliament. Some of them held banners up reading "families belong together" and "I miss my family," or "I am a worker and a mother."
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Charges for state accommodation
Those who have been granted international protection will henceforth have to live in Ireland for five years instead of three before they apply for citizenship. Asylum seekers in employment will also have to pay a charge towards their state accommodation, calculated on their weekly income. It is expected that payments will be between 10 and 40 percent of their weekly income, reported Reuters.
BBC Northern Ireland reported that in monetary terms, this could mean asylum seekers could be charged from 15 euros to 238 euros a week. For example, an asylum seeker earning 97.01 euros a week up to 150 euros a week might be charged around 15 euros a week for their accommodation. Those earning around 600 euros a week and higher may have to pay 238 euros a week towards their accommodation.
Any asylum seeker who fails to pay the charges and thus builds up significant arrears could face court or be pursued by debt collectors, the BBC reported.
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Benefits and residency
Some of those in receipt of long term welfare benefits will no longer be able to apply for residency. Or at least, added the BBC, they will have to show they have not received benefits for the two previous years prior to applying for residency.
The government will also be able to revoke a person’s protection status, if they are shown to be a "danger" to the security of the state, or if they are convicted of a serious crime.
O’Callaghan commented, "while these situations are rare, it is important that these powers are provided for in law."
Ireland’s Prime Minister Micheal Martin stated earlier this week that Ireland had to consider what he described as the "knock-on effects for us from what others do," referring to the UK’s recent tightening of migration policies.
Movement between Ireland and the UK
Ireland shares a border with the UK on the island of Ireland. The UK and Ireland have long had a policy of free movement for citizens of the two countries across the border, and that was formalized when the UK left the European Union, in the process known as Brexit. However, although allowing relatively free movement between the UK and Ireland is important politically to both nations for historical reasons, it has also made controlling migration between the two territories more difficult.
According to O’Callaghan, about 87 percent of those who applied for asylum in Ireland traveled into the country from across the border in Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK.
O’Callaghan says his government is also looking at restricting the number of students granted visas.
The new measures have been criticized by opposition parties on the left of politics, who accuse the centrist government of proposing "dog whistle" policies to appease the far-right. Other parties, including members of Sinn Féin, have urged the government to implement the plans as quickly as possible, suggesting that the Irish government should also set up a “bilateral returns agreement” with the UK too.
The government has also brought forward new laws to speed up the decision-making time on asylum applications and appeals. This, said O’Callaghan, is expected to cut waiting times to within three to six months by next June.
With AFP and Reuters
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In April 2025, Ireland recorded a population of 5.46 million.