Ireland's population is growing ever more diverse. Almost 12% of people living here have a nationality other than Irish. We have seen a large increase in recent years in people choosing to become Irish citizens and in addition, the numbers of second generation migrants continue to grow. This increasing diversity offers many benefits to our communities-from enhancing our skills base to enriching our cultural life. When we truly value diversity and take steps to demonstrate that value, we send a powerful message of inclusion and anti-discrimination into our society. Ireland's National Strategy for Migrant Integration is underpinned by the vision that migrants are facilitated to play a full role in Irish society, that integration is a core principle of Irish life and that Irish society and institutions work together to promote integration. Those working to realise this vision, across the public, private and voluntary sectors, need access to detailed information to inform and guide their work. It is by reference to reliable data on how migrants to Ireland are faring on key drivers of integration such as education, employment, social inclusion and active citizenship, that we can design and target effective interventions to support integration and remove barriers to it. This is why I funded the ESRI to complete this Monitoring Report on Integration. This report brings together these data, measures changes over time, and describes policy implications. It will be a valuable resource for policymakers and practitioners alike. The Monitoring Report provides essential evidence on outcomes for migrant groups in Ireland and shows how these compare with outcomes for the native population. This vital evidence will help to inform the design of the supports required to facilitate successful integration. Our increased diversity brings with it both challenges and opportunities. High quality, up-to-date evidence equips us better to meet both. I welcome this report.

I am very pleased to introduce this study on migrant integration using data from Census 2016. The study has been funded by the Department of Justice and Equality under its Equality and Integration Research Programme with the Economic and Social Research Institute. Integration research such as this is essential to the development of evidence-informed policy on integration. This study -the fourth to be produced under the Research Programme, which commenced in 2017makes an important contribution to what we know about outcomes for migrants to Ireland. More detailed analysis -made possible by access to the Census microdata -reveals variations in integration outcomes by country of birth, which have not been visible in previous studies. I would like to express my thanks to the Central Statistics Office for making this data available to the Research Programme.By examining key indicators of integration by country of birth for the first time, this study gives us new insights into the ways that integration journeys differ depending on their point of origin. Data on English language skills, educational attainment, employment status and occupational attainment are analysed by country of birth and compared to data on the Irish-born population to build up a detailed picture of integration outcomes and how they vary across different groups. This gives us a better understanding of who is more likely to face barriers to integration, what these barriers are, and how to formulate effective policies to support people in

to protect and promote human rights and equality in Ireland, to promote a culture of respect for human rights, equality and intercultural understanding, to promote understanding and awareness of the importance of human rights and equality, and to work towards the elimination of human rights abuses and discrimination.The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) is an independent research institute working towards a vision of 'Informed policy for a better Ireland'. The ESRI seeks to support sustainable economic growth and social progress in Ireland by providing a robust knowledge base capable of providing effective solutions to public policy challenges.2018.

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