Polish people working in Ireland sent home almost €1 billion ($1.6 billion) in 2009.

About €841 million in wages earned by Polish employees in Ireland was sent home to relatives. This amounts to €4,205 on average for the estimated 20,000 Poles currently living in Ireland.

Poland joined the European Union in 2004 which enabled Polish workers to work all across the EU. Over the past decade Ireland’s period of unprecedented growth witnessed an influx of Polish workers to Irish soil.

Figures from a new research paper on Polish migration show the level of money transfers by foreign workers has fallen substantially in the past three years. The report which is published by the Migration Policy Institute concluded that Poles returning to their home country has become a trend in recent years. The research quotes Polish statistics showing that the Polish population in Ireland fell by 20,000 in 2008.

Magdalena Ziolek-Skrzypczak, author of the report said : “There was a drop in the number of Poles in Ireland and the UK but we are not quite sure if they are returning home or going on to other countries. Poland was still a net emigration country in 2009.”

Almost seven thousand Poles applied for Personal Public Service Numbers (PPS) in the first nine months of this year which represents a 60 percent fall in comparison to last years figures.