The number of non-Irish nationals aged 15 and over employed here almost doubled between 2002 and last year, from 190,100 to 367,200.

The figures, from the Central Statistics Office(CSO), show the number of people in the labour force grew by 308,500, or 17.1%, between 2002 and 2006, largely due to a surge in employment of 288,400 during that period.

Nearly half that increase in employment was accounted for by non-Irish nationals.

The hotels and restaurants sector accounted for the highest proportion of non-Irish national workers last year at 31.9 %, followed by business activities at 16.2%, manufacturing at 15.2% and construction at 14.2%.