asked the Taoiseach the number of people who have emigrated from this country to date this year; where have they emigrated to and the equivalent figures for emigration in the years 1980 to 1984 inclusive.
Written Answers. - Emigration Figures.
29.
Persons moving into and out of the State are not subjected to comprehensive documentary or other administrative procedures in relation to their movements. There is therefore no way of determining the actual number of inward and outward migrants in any period and the destination of outward migrants. The only reliable estimates of migration flows are those for net migration (i.e. the difference between the inward and outward flows) between successive censuses of population. The estimates for these periods are obtained by relating the intercensal population changes to data for births and deaths in the same period.
For the post-1981 period, which was the most recent census year, very tentative estimates only of net migration can be made until the results of the 1986 census of population become available. These estimates of net migration are based on the provisional mid-April population estimates which are compiled annually and which in turn are subject to revision on the availability of the 1986 census results.
The provisional mid-April 1985 population estimate is 3,552,000 which is 109,000 above the 1981 census figure of 3,443,000. The natural increase in the population (i.e. excess of births over deaths) in the same period was 141,000. Thus in the four years April 1981 to April 1985 it is estimated that there was net migration outward of 32,000 which is an average of 8,000 per year.