Ireland needs migration to sustain economic growth and address labour shortages and its economy will suffer in the coming years due to “increasingly regressive migration policies”, the Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI) has said.Speaking at the seventh annual National Migrant Inclusion Conference, ICI chief executive Teresa Buczkowska said the Government was placing too much focus on refugees – who account for only 5 per cent of the migrant population – and deportations.Migrant workers accounted for 61.4 per cent of all employment growth between 2019 and 2024, and non-Irish nationals accounted for 27.5 per cent of total employees in 2024, according to statistics published by the Central Statistics Office in May.However, the ICI said the waiting list for Irish Residence Permit cards for migrant workers has increased to 16 weeks, even though migrants are not permitted to apply for a renewal of their current permit until 12 weeks before their expiry date. The chance of people’s permits expiring was making employers reluctant to keep them in jobs, Buczkowska said.She said the Government was taking a “severe approach” towards “penalising” migrants. She gave the example of Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan seeking Government approval to introduce rules such as a toughening of family reunification legislation. “Imagine if you have to wait two or three years to bring your family. For people this is really traumatic, to be separated from children or spouses for such a long time. People are really afraid,” she said.Speaking about the Government’s strategy on tackling racism, she said some “good work has been done” but there was a need for more long-term planning for migrant integration in practical terms. “Deportations are not managing migration. What is managing migration is planning and thinking about how migrants will need access to housing or hospital, or education for their children,” she said.Millions of euro were being spent on removing people from the State instead of on providing resourcing for migrants who have permission to live and work in the country and are unable to find adequate housing or other supports, Buczkowska said. [ Irish far-right figures join gathering in Portugal to push idea of ‘remigration’Opens in new window ]Such issues could have repercussions for Ireland’s economic performance if migrants go elsewhere to work, she said.In her keynote speech at the conference, President Catherine Connolly acknowledged the “vital contribution” of migrants across critical sectors, including healthcare, education, construction and hospitality. “We simply couldn’t have a functioning culture without your work,” she said.Migrants “contribute significantly to Ireland’s economic growth”, she said, adding that the implementation of the Government’s racism strategy was “absolutely vital”. “The plan applies to everyone in Ireland, as we all have a shared responsibility to address racism in our daily life,” the President said.Connolly said the ICI’s annual conference was important because it brought together government departments, public bodies, local authorities, society, civil society, researchers, and migrant communities to “bridge the gap between policy, strategy, and actual action on the ground”.