Record numbers of Irish emigrants are being granted permanent residency in Australia.

According to a new study, Ireland was in the top six in terms of the number of citizens being granted permanent residency in Australia, and came fourth in the list of those granted employer-sponsored visas last year, the Irish Examiner reports.

In 2014, Indian nationals (39,026) topped the list for the number receiving Australian Skilled Migrant Visa Grants. Chinese nationals were issued 26,776, the Uk 23,220, and Irish nationals 6,171 visas. Irish emigrants were also granted 5,947 employer-sponsored visas.

“The number of traditional permanent migrants in Australia is growing significantly with estimates revealing that this year’s intake is likely to surpass the existing record of 185,000, which was set in 1969,” said Edwina Shanahan, a migrant expert with VisaFirst.com.

“We have looked for figures to ascertain the Irish element of this and we have found that there has been an increase in the numbers of Irish applying for permanent residency in Australia. We have jumped from eighth position last year to sixth position this year, which is 3.2% of the total. For a country the size of ours, that is a sizable portion.”

Workers in the construction trades and engineering professions are in such high demand that some sponsorship visas are being processed in as little as five working days.

Australia is expected to issue more than 5 million visas to migrants this year.