Ireland needs more immigrants

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"At the current rate of economic growth, the Irish economy will need 45,000 immigrants a year to fill vacant positions, according to a report out today from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
In its Population and Labour Force Projections for 2006-36 released today, the CSO said it expects the labour force to grow annually by 1.8pc over the next 12 years, if recent immigration trends are to continue.
The number of women in the labour force is also expected to increase by a quarter to one million within the next 12 years. Women would then represent 44pc of the workforce.
In terms of population, the number of old people is expected to more than double over the next 30 years to more than one million.
Almost one in five of the population is expected to be aged over 65 years by 2036, compared to one in ten at present. The number of people over 80 years of age is also expected to treble in the same period. Overall, the Irish population is expected to reach five million mark within the next 15 years if current fertility, mortality and migration trends continue."