Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Question 71: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of migrant workers he estimates are working here illegally; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6210/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I assume that the Deputy's question refers to work which in itself is lawful — in other words, work which an Irish citizen, a citizen of an EEA country or a citizen of Switzerland is entitled generally, as of right, to undertake in this jurisdiction.

There were approximately 88,000 non-EEA or non-Swiss nationals registered with the Garda Síochána as authorised to engage in employment of one sort or another in the first two months of 2005. Consequently, the following analysis covers persons other than those referred to above. Illegal working and illegal immigration are two sides of the same coin and the issue raised by the Deputy covers a spectrum of practical possibilities. This is because persons engaged in illegal employment are either persons who never had permission to remain in the State; persons who had such permission but whose permission has expired; persons who have current permission but who are in breach of a condition of that permission which prohibits employment; persons who have current permission but who are in breach of a condition which only authorises employment of a particular type, for example, for a designated employer with an employment permit; or students who have current permission but who are in breach of a condition which only authorises part-time employment.

All countries such as ours which have experienced significant economic growth have great difficulty in sizing both their illegal immigrant populations and the extent to which non-nationals engage in employment unlawfully. This is because such persons do not manifest their identities to the immigration authorities or, in the alternative, the entire circumstances of their presence in the State — for obvious reasons.

As a result any attempt on my part to put a figure on the number of persons in question would be purely speculative. However, I intend to commission research on the complex topic of illegal migration in the near future.