The largest research programme on immigration in Ireland is due to be launched next week by Trinity College Dublin.
The four-year project aims to provide crucial information on challenges facing the State in areas such as the level of integration of foreign nationals into society and the potential for conflict between migrants and the disadvantaged communities in Ireland.
Many experts on migration agree that a lack of information on immigration has the potential to hamper public policy decisions being made by the Government and local authorities.
For example, there is still widespread confusion over the real level of immigration into Ireland. Foreign nationals received more than 200,000 Personal Public Service (PPS) numbers last year, yet migration estimates compiled by the Central Statistics Office suggest the numbers taking up residence are significantly lower.
The multi-million euro Trinity Immigration Initiative (TII) will focus on a number of key areas. They include a survey on the level of integration of foreign nationals in society; how public services are coping with immigration in areas such as education and health; migrants' careers and aspirations; language supports for migrants in the education system; and the cultural and religious activities of immigrants.
The research programme is one of a number of academic projects which seek to provide more accurate information on immigration in Ireland.
Meanwhile UCD will tomorrow announce details of a separate two-year study to provide more evidence-based research on issues such as immigration and integration.
The Migration and Citizenship Research Initiative will involve public lectures, training workshops and the launch of new research projects on integration-related topics. It is being funded by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences.
Prof James Wickham of Trinity's Department of Sociology said its four-year initiative, as well as other research projects, could throw new, valuable light on immigration into Ireland.
He said key questions remained unanswered, such as whether immigrants were likely to remain in the State in the long-term, or if the State was experiencing a temporary surge of migration.
"At the moment the discussion on immigration in Ireland is on the basis that we shouldn't make the same mistakes as places like France did in the 1950s and 60s. But that assumes immigration here is the same as it was in France," he said.
"It may very well be that we're experiencing transient immigration, where people are passing through rather than staying. Those kinds of questions have major implications for issues such as social policy, education provision and pensions."
Prof Wickham said there was a narrow window of opportunity in which to maximise the benefits of the economic, social and cultural contribution of immigrants to Irish society, and to minimise the risks. Sound evidence of the potential impact of immigration at every level was required now as a basis for creating a cohesive society into the future, he said.
The research programme is being developed by Trinity College Dublin academics including Prof Robbie Gilligan of the School of Social Work and Social Policy; Sharon Jackson of the Institute for International Integration Studies; Dr Ronit Lentin of the Department of Sociology; Prof David Little of the Centre for Language and Communication Studies; Dr Peter Muhlau of the Department of Sociology; and Prof Wickham.