1 in 5 workers is foreign born

14% rise in pps numbers given out in last year

ALMOST one in five employees here last year were not born in Ireland and more than 17% of those worked in hospitality, a report revealed yesterday.

A total of 410,939 foreign nationals were given Personal Public Service (PPS) numbers between 2002 and 2016.

The CSO study found a rise in people born abroad looking to work here as almost 14% more PPS’S were distributed in 2016.

Overall, numbers given to foreign nationals across all age groups hit 107,767 last year – an increase of 13,066.

A breakdown of the figures revealed the largest amount of foreign workers (71,864) were employed in the accommodation and food sector with 17.4% working in that area.

The UK had the highest PPS numbers with 15,917 handed out in 2016.

It has continued to represent the highest allocated country since 2009.

Romania recorded the second highest with 11,206 obtained by foreign workers last year.

The UK, Romania and Poland have had the three highest allocations by country during the last four years.

Accommodation and food services along with wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles, admin and support services, manufacturing and the information and communication sectors made up 64% (263,076) of all foreign nationals employed here.

Employment activity rates increased by more than 4% last year to 51,914 compared to the 2015 figure of 41,855.

Meanwhile, the data revealed less than one in four foreign nationals given PPS numbers in 2011 worked here for any period last year.

The report found of the 57,946 foreign nationals aged 15 years and over who were assigned PPS numbers in 2011, 13,759 or 23.7% had employment activity at any time last year.