The number of Polish nationals availing of a Government scheme to repatriate them free of charge has increased significantly since the start of the year, according to new Department of Justice figures obtained by The Irish Times.
News of the marked rise comes amid recent media reports of increasing numbers of destitute Polish immigrants availing of services in Dublin intended for the homeless.
The take-up for the free repatriation scheme by Slovaks, Hungarians and Latvians, while still relatively small in number, has also increased substantially this year.
If current trends continue for the rest of the year, as is likely, the numbers of Polish people assisted in returning home this year will be eight times higher than the figure in 2004.
To mid-July, 207 Polish nationals had returned home under the repatriation programme run by the department's Reception and Integration Agency. This mid-year figure is already well ahead of the 142 repatriated throughout last year and the 51 who availed of the scheme in 2004.
Many nationals from accession states have come to Ireland since 2004 with limited savings. A significant proportion do not speak English and have found it difficult to find employment. Anecdotal evidence now emerging has indicated that many have become homeless, particularly in Dublin.
The Homeless Agency, a partnership body which co-ordinates services for the homeless in Dublin, has reported a significant increase in the number of eastern Europeans availing of its services.
The Polish embassy estimates that up to 600 of its citizens may be accessing services for homeless people. Some drop-in centres report a doubling in overall numbers during the past year.
The Department of Social and Family Affairs is reviewing restrictions on social welfare payments to immigrants from European Union accession states.
The number of Slovaks who returned home under the agency scheme to mid-July this year reached 53, compared with 69 last year and 11 in 2004. Some 26 Hungarians have availed of the scheme this year, compared to 19 last year and 13 in 2004.
The take-up among Latvians has also shown an increase to 32 so far this year, compared with 28 last year and seven in 2004. In total, 348 EU nationals have availed of the scheme this year, up from 323 in all of last year and 149 in 2004.
The scheme is open to any citizen of EU accession states and certain other "special-case" EU nationals, who find themselves destitute during their time in Ireland.
Emergency accommodation is provided followed by transport to an airport and a flight home. Spending on the scheme reached €175,000 to the end of July.
This follows expenditure in 2005 of €230,000 and in 2004 of €151,000.
