SOME 2,500 Irish people registered to work or access benefits in the UK in the first three months of the year, a figure broadly in line with previous years.
Despite anecdotal evidence that the economic slowdown is leading greater numbers to move to the UK, data provided by the UK’s Department for Work and Pensions show that only 2,530 Irish nationals registered for national insurance numbers there in the first quarter of the year.
In 2007, a total of 10,500 Irish people did the same, showing that the trend for January to April this year is similar to last year. The annual figure has held firm in the 9,000 to 10,200 range in each of the previous four years.
The data on national insurance numbers, used to pay taxes and claim benefits, gives an indication of population flows to the UK, but does not include those emigrants who may have reactivated a number they were previously allocated. Moreover, any emigration spike since early summer would not show up in these statistics.
Joe O’Brien, policy officer at Crosscare Migrant Project, said its Dublin drop-in centre had not seen any significant increase in people emigrating to Britain.
“There’s no noticeable increase in the number of people coming in there. There is maybe a slight increase in people asking about what their options are, but it wouldn’t be motivated by unemployment – it would largely be people who are in work and are wondering, because they have heard a lot of talk about recession, what their options are.”
Mr O’Brien said a certain number of Irish people were emigrating to the UK during the height of the economic boom, and the figures have held steady for several years. “That’s a reflection of the fact that immigration is not just about economics.”
According to new data published by the Central Statistics Office this week, the number of people emigrating from the State in the year to the end of April increased marginally to 45,300.
