Written answers

Wednesday, 6 July 2011

Department of An Taoiseach

Emigration Statistics

9:00 pm

Photo of Pádraig Mac LochlainnPádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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Question 59: To ask the Taoiseach the way he measures emigration numbers from a given county and if he will utilise inactive PPS numbers of Irish citizens as an indicator. [19062/11]

Photo of Pádraig Mac LochlainnPádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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Question 60: To ask the Taoiseach the number of Irish citizens that have emigrated in recent years on a county basis. [19063/11]

Photo of Paul KehoePaul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 59 and 60 together.

The principal source of information for the estimation of annual migration flows published by the Central Statistics Office, incorporating both emigration and immigration, is the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS), which classifies the flows by sex, broad age group, origin and destination, and nationality. The provision of emigration data at a detailed county level is not available due to the variability associated with sample surveys of this nature.

The estimates are published on an annual basis in September of each year. The next publication in September 2011 will cover the period April 2010 to April 2011. The estimates will be subject to revision once the definitive results of the five yearly census (Census 2011) are made available in 2012.

Other sources are also monitored to supplement the primary source i.e. the QNHS, such as: the number of work visas issued to Irish citizens for the main countries of destination via the relevant embassies and agencies; and the number of Personal Public Service (PPS) numbers allocated to individuals and subsequent monitoring of activity through available administrative systems.

However these sources have significant limitations in terms of their suitability as measures of migration (e.g. inability to differentiate between short-term and long-term (1 year plus) movements, consistency of availability of PPSN across relevant sources and timeliness of the data).

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