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E-mail: labour@cso.ie Martina O'Calllaghan +353 21 453 5491 Brian Cahill +353 21 453 5173
For general information on CSO statistics:
information@cso.ie (+353) 21 453 5000 On-line ISSN 2009-6011
CSO statistical release, , 11am

Foreign Nationals: PPSN Allocations, Employment and Social Welfare Activity

2014

         
Year PPSN allocatedAllocations to foreign nationals aged 15 & overNumber with no employment activity 2009-2014Employment activity by year
200920102011201220132014
200962,98431,84420,74220,38816,12714,23213,07412,346
201059,31029,065 21,18621,49516,82714,77813,436
201158,25827,889  21,78422,50918,01015,613
201264,19330,714   24,83526,08620,646
201375,81238,197    28,90231,241
201485,72450,876     34,841

Almost one fifth of foreign nationals assigned PPSNs in 2009 had employment activity in Ireland in 2014

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Of the 62,984 foreign nationals aged 15 years and over who were assigned PPSNs (Personal Public Service Numbers) in 2009, 12,346 (19.6%) had employment activity at any time during 2014. See table 2.

This data is based upon an annual analysis of records of the Revenue Commissioners, the Department of Social Protection, and the CSO, based on foreign nationals who were allocated PPSNs during the period 2002-2014.

 

Note: Unless otherwise indicated, the term “activity” in this release means any PAYE employment or any engagement with the social welfare system.

 

The analysis also shows that:

  • Of the 85,724 foreign nationals aged 15 years and over who were allocated new PPSNs in 2014, 34,841 had employment activity during the year.  See table 2.
  • Employment activity was recorded in 2014 for 342,354 foreign nationals aged 15 years and over who received PPSNs in the period 2002–2014.  See table 4.
  • A total of 79,161 PPSN’s were allocated to foreign nationals in 2009, while in 2014 this number had risen to 96,167. Allocations to foreign national males in 2014 were 50,986 (53.0%), while female allocations were 45,181 (47.0%). Comparable figures for 2009 showed 39,986 (50.5%) male allocations and 39,175 (49.5%) female allocations.  See table 6.

 

Note: On December 3rd 2015 it was noted that this release (Foreign Nationals: PPSN Allocations, Employment and Social Welfare Activity - 2014) contained incorrect data relating to Activity and No Activity counts for 2014 PPSN Allocations (Table 1 to Table 4 and Statbank tables FNA01, FNA02, FNA03 and FNA08). As a result, the release was removed from the CSO website while the content was being reviewed and updated. The release was subsequently reissued on December 4th 2015 with the relevant data corrected. Users are therefore requested to disregard any previously downloaded 2014 data from Table 1 to Table 4 and Statbank tables FNA01, FNA02, FNA03 and FNA08 and instead replace this data with the corrected values now available. The CSO apologises for the inconvenience this might have caused users.

 

Activity rate in the year of allocation is 45.5% in 2014

Employment and social welfare activity rates for foreign nationals in 2014 ranged from a low of 30.4% for 2009 allocations, where 19,162 of the 62,984 allocations had employment or interacted with the social welfare system in the year, to a high of 47.4%, where 35,909 of the 75,812 allocations were active, for 2013 allocations. The activity rate in the year of allocation was 45.5% in 2014, which is the highest rate in the period since 2009, when it stood at 42.7%. 

For 2014, foreign nationals from the EU15 to EU25 states had the highest activity rate in 2014, with 63.2% (8,899) of allocations recording employment or engagement with the social welfare system in the year. This was followed by nationals from the EU15 (excl Ireland & the UK) with 54.2% (10,197) of allocations having activity in the year. The Rest of the World had 27,242 allocations in 2014, with a 35.6% activity rate in the year.  See table 1.

 

Employment activity rate in year of allocation shows a 2.5 percentage point increase in 2014

Employment activity for PPSN allocations to foreign nationals in the year of arrival increased from 28,902 in 2013 to 34,841 in 2014. The employment activity rate in year of allocation has increased by 2.5 percentage points from 38.1% in 2013 to 40.6% in 2014.

The nationality group with the highest employment activity rate in the year of allocation is the EU15 to EU25 states in 2014 at 58.4%. The Rest of the World had the largest annual decrease in the 2014 employment activity rate, decreasing by 7.1 percentage points from 36.8% for 2013 allocations to 29.7% for 2014 allocations. See table 2.

 

Social Welfare activity rate in year of allocation decreases to 7.4% in 2014

In 2014 the social welfare activity rate in the year of allocation was 7.4%, representing a fall of 1.1 percentage points from the 2013 rate of 8.5%. This compares to a social welfare activity rate in the year of allocation of 11.9% in 2009. In 2014, 11,764 (18.7%) of the 62,984 PPSN allocations from 2009 recorded social welfare activity. The comparable figure for 2009 allocations in 2013 was marginally less at 18.1% (11,423). 

Across the nationality groups the largest percentage of 2009 allocations to have social welfare activity in 2014 was the EU15 to EU25 states with 4,555 (24.7%), of the 18,475 allocations in 2009 recording social welfare activity in 2014. This is followed by the EU25 to EU28 states which have a social welfare activity rate of 24.1% in 2014 for 2009 allocations. See table 3.

It should be noted that there are several possible reasons for increases in social welfare activity by allocation year over time; the birth of a child leading to a child benefit claim, jobseekers claims, and the fact that some benefits depend on habitual residence requirements or on having sufficient social insurance benefits.

 

0
Year PPSN allocatedPPSN Allocations
200979161
201068291
201167365
201272947
201385170
201496167

PPSN allocations to foreign nationals rise by 12.9% in 2014

Overall, PPSN allocations to foreign nationals across all age groups were 96,167 in 2014. This is an increase of 10,997 (+12.9%) when compared with allocations in 2013. 2012 represented the first rise in the number of allocations after falls in all years since 2009 when PPSN allocations to foreign nationals stood at 79,161. See table 5 and graph above.

 Other main points which can be noted include:

  • A total of 342,354 foreign nationals who were assigned PPSNs during the period 2002-2014 recorded some employment during 2014. The largest numbers were employed in the Accommodation and food service activities sector (59,682). The largest five sectors accounted for 64.1% (219,446) of all foreign national employment activity in 2014.  See table 4.
  • Male and female allocations to foreign nationals were 50,986 and 45,181 respectively in 2014, which compares with 39,986 males and 39,175 females in 2009. The proportion of new allocations to females was 47.0% in 2014, down from 49.5% in 2009. See table 6.
  • The UK had the highest number of allocations (13,817) in 2014, and has continued to account for the highest number of allocations by country since 2009.  Poland recorded the second highest number of allocations (9,120) in 2014. See table 7.
Table 1 – Foreign Nationals aged 15 years and over: Employment and Social Welfare activity by broad nationality group and year of activity
        Numbers
 Year PPSN allocatedAllocations to foreign nationals aged 15 years and overNumber with no activity 2009–2014Activity1 by year
Broad nationality group 200920102011201220132014
       
United Kingdom200910,9555,0244,6324,2193,5503,2243,0162,892
 201011,2916,2171093,8653,7353,1242,8432,693
 201110,9786,143511013,8033,6373,1132,742
 201210,7736,1553443833,7143,5862,901 
 201311,1846,7554041481053,6283,593
 201411,9788,35227282729883,625
          
EU15 excl. Ireland and the UK200912,4184,7966,1445,0123,6242,9772,6822,424
 201011,9554,032186,4695,9254,3933,6693,149
 201111,9533,52411326,9606,3224,8284,025
 201214,3484,46158228,1547,7105,842
 201316,8686,021**3379,1138,574
 201418,8258,628****2310,197
          
EU15 to EU25 states200918,4757,0087,8098,1167,2386,9216,8446,799
 201016,8835,324528,4758,3797,3827,0816,937
 201114,1864,1903467,5257,5256,5756,216
 201214,5694,345*10578,0887,9726,854
 201314,9424,540*35608,6348,396
 201414,0845,183––34558,899
          
EU25 to EU28 states20092,5601,1596808148319069961,010
 20102,9291,30657531,0411,0861,1861,221
 20113,7111,459*51,1081,6251,7391,804
 20125,1961,926–*31,8912,7932,634
 20138,1282,979***33,7984,626
 201410,8315,056––**105,776
          
USA20092,0481,181598589472423374366
 20102,0511,26715531582484417387
 20112,1931,33268593663549452
 20122,2091,333**10620675540
 20132,5101,5843335676797
 20142,7641,940****10823
          
Rest of the world200916,5285,5357,0497,5166,3896,0175,7705,671
 201014,2015,632565,4236,1124,8364,4364,282
 201115,2376,2333405,7236,8895,6075,121
 201217,0987,494911446,2527,5366,370
 201322,18010,835*45507,5489,923
 201427,24217,5304444729,710
          
Total foreign nationals200962,98424,70326,91226,26622,10420,46819,68219,162
 201059,31023,77825525,51625,77421,30519,63218,669
 201158,25822,8817523225,71226,66122,41120,360
 201264,19325,714507421928,71930,27225,141
 201375,81232,71448536526033,39735,909
 201485,72446,6893435384225839,030
1 Activity means any PAYE employment or any engagement with the social welfare system.  
* Confidential
– No Data
Open in Excel: Foreign Nationals: PPSN Allocations, Employment and Social Welfare Activity 2014 Table 1 (XLS 37KB)
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Table 2 – Foreign Nationals aged 15 years and over: Employment activity by broad nationality group and year of activity
        Numbers
 Year PPSN allocatedAllocations to foreign nationals aged 15 years and overNumber with no employment activity 2009–2014Employment activity by year
       
Broad nationality group 200920102011201220132014
       
United Kingdom200910,9557,1472,6152,5832,0381,7421,5461,425
 201011,2917,770182,5212,6212,0021,6991,540
 201110,9787,508*172,6192,6092,1011,761
 201210,7737,313––102,7142,6982,038
 201311,1847,844–––242,7052,733
 201411,9789,139––––132,838
          
EU15 excl. Ireland and the UK200912,4185,3975,6024,6363,2372,5342,1821,900
 201011,9554,48186,0645,6234,0913,3112,726
 201111,9534,0593106,5105,9564,4823,619
 201214,3485,104––67,5747,2725,414
 201316,8686,869–––228,2948,048
 201418,8259,276––––109,549
          
EU15 to EU25 states200918,4758,1196,9607,0255,8515,3355,0354,842
 201016,8836,300207,6777,4016,1955,6575,306
 201114,1865,096*126,7786,6245,5014,938
 201214,5695,229––67,3837,1275,781
 201314,9425,499–––177,8327,470
 201414,0845,856––––158,226
          
EU25 to EU28 states20092,5601,408562618611661704692
 20102,9291,564*621844882945925
 20113,7111,730–49801,3991,4661,478
 20125,1962,278––*1,7192,4932,273
 20138,1283,462–––*3,4444,165
 201410,8315,426––––85,404
          
USA20092,0481,349487467342279222200
 20102,0511,4154428449354284239
 20112,1931,483–*502534405311
 20122,2091,467––4539557409
 20132,5101,731––––581660
 20142,7642,036––––3727
          
Rest of the world200916,5288,4244,5165,0594,0483,6813,3853,287
 201014,2017,53593,8754,5573,3032,8822,700
 201115,2378,013*44,3955,3874,0553,506
 201217,0989,323––44,9065,9394,731
 201322,18012,792–––116,0468,165
 201427,24219,143––––138,097
          
Total foreign nationals200962,98431,84420,74220,38816,12714,23213,07412,346
 201059,31029,0656121,18621,49516,82714,77813,436
 201158,25827,88974821,78422,50918,01015,613
 201264,19330,714––3224,83526,08620,646
 201375,81238,197–––7628,90231,241
 201485,72450,876––––6234,841
* Confidential
– No Data
Open in Excel: Foreign Nationals: PPSN Allocations Employment and Social Welfare Activity 2014 Table 2 (XLS 38KB)
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Table 3 – Foreign Nationals aged 15 years and over: Social Welfare activity by broad nationality group and year of activity
        Numbers
 Year PPSN allocatedAllocations to foreign nationals aged 15 years and overNumber with no S/W activity 2009–2014Social Welfare activity by year
Broad nationality group 200920102011201220132014
       
United Kingdom200910,9557,4552,3612,1531,9981,9491,9521,967
 201011,2918,583911,6681,6201,5891,6181,631
 201110,9788,63650841,4681,4701,4411,406
 201210,7738,8073443731,2541,3461,278
 201311,1849,487404148811,1881,294
 201411,97810,91427282729751,064
          
EU15 excl. Ireland and the UK200912,41810,2697737719101,0321,0981,103
 201011,9559,900106407639391,1191,092
 201111,95310,0588226748749851,016
 201214,34812,33858168621,1331,181
 201316,86814,989**3151,2071,241
 201418,82517,754****131,071
          
EU15 to EU25 states200918,47512,3921,4532,7693,5324,0924,4364,555
 201016,88311,143321,5762,7863,5774,1584,313
 201114,1869,775*341,4152,5193,1243,438
 201214,56910,745*10511,4462,5883,123
 201314,94211,843*35431,6792,728
 201414,08412,561––34401,523
          
EU25 to EU28 states20092,5601,825134240303411545616
 20102,9292,1633142253376515617
 20113,7112,770**155401624818
 20125,1964,034–**265727957
 20138,1286,712****6091,273
 201410,83110,080––***753
          
USA20092,0481,755133160172194203216
 20102,0511,80511116167164170188
 20112,1931,94867113163188190
 20122,2091,995**696161180
 20132,5102,3043335115186
 20142,7642,652****7112
          
Rest of the world200916,52811,7482,6612,8052,8953,0113,1893,307
 201014,20111,088471,6431,8191,9422,0992,227
 201115,23712,390*361,4241,8402,0242,229
 201217,09814,425911401,4541,9702,198
 201322,18019,687*45391,6412,210
 201427,24225,4534444601,789
          
Total foreign nationals200962,98445,4447,5158,8989,81010,68911,42311,764
 201059,31044,6821945,7857,4088,5879,67910,068
 201158,25845,577681845,2497,2678,3869,097
 201264,19352,34450741875,3777,9258,917
 201375,81265,0224853651846,4398,932
 201485,72479,414343538421976,312
* Confidential
– No Data
Open in Excel: Foriegn Nationals: PPSN Allocations, Employment and Social Welfare Activity 2014 Table 3 (XLS 36KB)
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Table 4 - Foreign Nationals aged 15 years and over: Employment activity by economic sector and broad nationality group, 20141Numbers
  Broad nationality group 
  United KingdomEU15 excl Ireland & the UKEU15 to EU25 statesEU25 to EU28 statesUSARest of the worldTotal foreign nationals
  
Economic Sector (NACE Rev.2)
  
AAgriculture, forestry and fishing2561984,556971124566,449
BMining and quarrying4452648.40361
CManufacturing2,2782,70026,2111,5652883,68736,729
DElectricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply124556314665327
EWater supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities86381,53028831182,063
FConstruction9124205,0531,632237238,763
GWholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles5,2324,90731,7912,7454799,12054,274
HTransportation and storage1,1902,8187,0765354675512,420
IAccommodation and food service activities 2,6145,33229,0096,44239015,89559,682
JInformation and communication2,3938,5103,4347444855,48121,047
KFinancial and insurance activities excluding activities of holding companies2,2612,8042,7782623371,71010,152
LReal estate activities2642091,590358217163,158
MProfessional, scientific and technical activities2,4893,1163,5885723792,91813,062
NAdministrative and support service activities2,4378,81720,9514,4422928,38345,322
OPublic administration and defence; compulsory social security1,5003736501981113,3066,138
PEducation1,8622,2821,6232665262,5489,107
QHuman health and social work actvities3,1891,4496,89886425810,78123,439
RArts, entertainment and recreation7793941,429266767993,743
SOther service activities5543093,5601,036471,2386,744
TActivities of households as employers12306222179206
Unknown 2,2272,1678,5851,4513974,34119,168
Total32,70346,933160,70124,6814,17773,159342,354
1 This table relates to those foreign nationals assigned PPSNs during the period 2002 to 2014 inclusive and employed during 2014.
* Confidential
. No data
Open in Excel: Foreign Nationals: PPSN Allocations, Employment and Social Welfare Activity 2014 Table 4 (XLS 11KB)
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Table 5 - Foreign Nationals: PPSN allocations by age group and broad nationality group
        Numbers
Year PPSN allocatedAge at allocationUKEU15 excl Ireland & the UKEU15 to EU25 statesEU25 to EU28 statesUSARest of worldTotal foreign nationals1
         
20090-143,0329928,0034055083,23716,177
 15-242,1805,2069,4081,0685176,21924,598
 25-444,3776,1657,3381,2597418,96328,843
 45-643,0558821,6482114989537,247
 65+1,34316581222923932,296
 Total13,98713,41026,4782,9652,55619,76579,161
         
20100-142,1557633,2934114741,8858,981
 15-241,7854,9157,6631,1494045,66921,585
 25-444,3006,0467,4961,5586757,51927,594
 45-643,8377931,6302026077537,822
 65+1,36920194203652602,309
 Total13,44612,71820,1763,3402,52516,08668,291
         
20110-142,1529303,1794605151,8719,107
 15-241,8074,6706,3211,3313776,03020,536
 25-443,8816,2116,3192,0628118,20527,489
 45-643,8758621,4182956668127,928
 65+1,415210128233391902,305
 Total13,13012,88317,3654,1712,70817,10867,365
         
20120-141,9711,0142,8056364841,8448,754
 15-241,8015,5496,2041,7043976,65122,306
 25-443,9747,6806,7113,0088289,32531,526
 45-643,6529081,4904516618718,033
 65+1,346211164333232512,328
 Total12,74415,36217,3745,8322,69318,94272,947
         
20130-141,9831,3772,4199485372,0949,358
 15-241,6056,1306,2002,4514208,43325,239
 25-443,9639,3177,0444,94891312,28438,469
 45-644,1311,1541,5476837961,1049,415
 65+1,485267151463813592,689
 Total13,16718,24517,3619,0763,04724,27485,170
         
20140-141,8391,5282,6121,3466412,47710,443
 15-241,7587,2155,7143,1895249,51427,914
 25-444,31710,1496,7936,57099115,77244,592
 45-644,3461,2041,4111,0038281,38010,172
 65+1,557257166694215763,046
 Total13,81720,35316,69612,1773,40529,71996,167
1 This table includes PPSN allocations to foreign nationals of all ages.  
Open in Excel: Foreign Nationals: PPSN Allocations, Employment and Social Welfare Activity 2014 Table 5 (XLS 12KB)
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Table 6 - Foreign Nationals: PPSN allocations by sex and broad nationality group
        Numbers
Year PPSN allocatedSexUKEU15 excl Ireland & the UKEU15 to EU25 statesEU25 to EU28 statesUSARest of worldTotal foreign nationals1
         
2009Male 7,7597,16912,2431,5551,10910,15139,986
 Female6,2286,24114,2351,4101,4479,61439,175
 Total13,98713,41026,4782,9652,55619,76579,161
 
2010Male 7,5536,7989,6381,8361,2088,06435,097
 Female5,8935,92010,5381,5041,3178,02233,194
 Total13,44612,71820,1763,3402,52516,08668,291
 
2011Male 7,1886,9458,2492,2351,2088,68834,513
 Female5,9425,9389,1161,9361,5008,42032,852
 Total13,13012,88317,3654,1712,70817,10867,365
 
2012Male 7,0388,2498,2183,1971,2639,41537,380
 Female5,7067,1139,1562,6351,4309,52735,567
 Total12,74415,36217,3745,8322,69318,94272,947
 
2013Male 7,3609,6628,3845,1381,40912,55644,509
 Female5,8078,5838,9773,9381,63811,71840,661
 Total13,16718,24517,3619,0763,04724,27485,170
 
2014Male 7,74110,5978,5587,0951,54615,44950,986
 Female6,0769,7568,1385,0821,85914,27045,181
 Total13,81720,35316,69612,1773,40529,71996,167
1 This table includes PPSN allocations to foreign nationals of all ages.
Open in Excel: Foreign Nationals: PPSN Allocations, Employment and Social Welfare Activity 2014 Table 6 (XLS 10KB)
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Table 7 - Foreign Nationals: PPSN allocations by nationality1
      Numbers
Nationality200920102011201220132014
United Kingdom13,98713,44613,13012,74413,16713,817
Poland13,7548,7298,0778,6589,2359,120
Romania2,6292,9943,8325,2777,7109,074
Brazil2,7094,2024,8955,5056,2507,771
Spain2,5892,3952,6023,9325,0115,195
Italy2,2552,0722,1282,7083,5694,265
France3,1082,8792,6742,9153,1763,739
United States of America2,5562,5252,7082,6933,0473,405
India2,2321,4271,4721,8532,6143,056
Germany2,0962,0982,1602,1412,1602,407
Lithuania3,7564,3493,5512,8632,5192,317
Croatia585060864882,222
Portugal1,1287927151,1361,5841,950
Hungary1,8081,5971,5661,9901,8821,725
Venezuela511693454082,2181,637
Pakistan8434748027408901,615
China1,2849899411,1471,1131,429
Latvia3,9093,1272,1911,7601,5681,310
Republic of Korea4315575056791,0431,271
Slovakia1,7931,2851,0141,1381,0941,082
Netherlands648647710659823882
Australia1,018694557591637882
Bulgaria278296279469878881
Canada840699610609741842
Mexico158291313383544774
All Other Countries13,2439,5089,5289,86311,20913,499
Total79,16168,29167,36572,94785,17096,167
1 This table includes PPSN allocations to foreign nationals of all ages and is sorted in descending order of allocations in 2014.
Open in Excel: Foreign Nationals: PPSN Allocations, Employment and Social Welfare Activity 2014 Table 7 (XLS 10KB)
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Background Notes

Data sources

This analysis is based on three data sources:

  • The Central Records System of the Department of Social Protection.
  • The P35 files (employer end-of-year returns) of the Revenue Commissioners.
  • The Central Business Register of the Central Statistics Office.

The variables used were the date the PPSN was assigned, the nationality at that time, the age at that time, sex, and the NACE category of economic activity.

For some persons, employment is recorded before the year the PPSN was issued. These numbers, which are relatively small, have been blanked in the headline table for clarity but are included in the detailed tables.

Some pensioners are included in the P35 data, but their numbers are small.  Also, self-employed persons are excluded from the data from 2005 if they had no P35 self-employed income and if they had no other work as an employee.

Data analysis from 2002 (Social Welfare activity) and 2005 (Employment activity) are updated annually and available through the CSO Statbank at:

http://www.cso.ie/shorturl.aspx/213

 

Nationality groups

The category EU15 excl Ireland & the UK consists of Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Finland and Sweden

The category EU15 to EU25 states consists of the states that joined the EU on 1 May 2004: the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia.

The category EU25 to EU28 states consist of Romania and Bulgaria, who joined the EU on 1 January 2007 and Croatia on 1 July 2013.

 

Definitions

Employment Activity: Employment activity for the purposes of this release includes any person appearing on the Revenue P35 files, or in the employment file within the Central Records System of the Department of Social Protection. The level of activity can vary from having worked one day in the year to working full-time throughout the year. 

Social Welfare Activity: Social welfare activity for the purposes of this release includes any person appearing in the claims files within the Central Records System of the Department of Social Protection. This includes one off claims, such as dental and optical benefits, and ongoing claims, such as Jobseeker’s Benefit or Jobseeker's Allowance, pensions and illness payments.

NACE Rev 2: Employment is classified using NACE Rev 2. Where persons had two or more employments during a year, they were allocated to the NACE category with the largest number of weeks of employment.

 

Background to the study

The results presented in this release are based on a data-matching exercise undertaken by the CSO, for statistical purposes, of administrative data from of the Department of Social Protection and the Revenue Commissioners. This study was undertaken in line with the Statistics Act, 1993, and the CSO Data Protocol governing data matching exercises undertaken by the CSO (available at http://www.cso.ie/en/aboutus/csodataprotocol/ ).

 

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Contact:

Central Statistics Office
Skehard Road, Cork T12 X00E, Ireland

Tel:
(+353) 21 453 5000
E-Mail:
information@cso.ie

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