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Diversity and Health

Diversity and Health

CSO statistical publication, , 11am
Census Results 2022 Branding
Census 2022 Results

This publication is part of a series of results from Census 2022.

Country of Citizenship

Information on country of citizenship was provided for almost 5,000 homeless people. The non-response rate for this question was 53%. Information on country of citizenship augmented with administrative data to reduce non-response is provided in the Background Notes.

  • Among those who responded to the question on citizenship, 3,148 people (65%) indicated that they had either Irish only or dual Irish citizenship.

  • The biggest non-Irish groups were Romanian (732) and African (301), representing 15% and 6% of those who provided information on their census form.

  • A total of 461 respondents (10%) indicated that they had another European citizenship.

  • Some 33% of males who answered the question had non-Irish citizenship compared with 38% of female respondents.

Figure 3.1 Non-Irish homeless people usually resident and present in the State by country of citizenship and sex, 2022
Table 3.1 Homeless people usually resident and present in the State by country of citizenship and sex, 2022

Ethnic Group/Background

In Census 2022, a revised question on ethnic group or background was included, introducing several new ethnic groups such as Roma, Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi and Arab.

  • A total of 4,454 usually resident homeless people provided information on their ethnic group or background.

  • This entailed a non-response rate of 57%.

  • Among people who responded, 1,830 (41%) identified as White Irish; this was higher among males (46%) compared with females (35%).

  • A further 684 people identified as Black or Black Irish and 652 as Roma, both representing 15% of those who answered the question on the census form.

Figure 3.2 Homeless people usually resident and present in the State by ethnic group/background and sex, 2022
Table 3.2 Homeless people usually resident and present in the State by ethnic group/background and sex, 2022

Religion

The non-response rate to this question among the homeless population was 59% (6,062 people). A total of 1,936 homeless people identified as Roman Catholic. This represents 45% of those who answered the question on religion. 

  • The second largest grouping was Islam (670), followed by Orthodox Christian (including Greek, Coptic and Russian Orthodox) accounting for 623 people.

  • The figure for people with no religion was over 500.

  • After Roman Catholic, Islam was the next largest religion group among both males and females.

Figure 3.3 Homeless people by religion and sex, 2022
Table 3.3 Homeless people by religion and sex, 2022

Health

The question on general health in Census 2022 relates to self-perceived health. The non-response rate to this question was 58% (5,993 people).

  • Among the 4,328 homeless people who answered the general health question, almost 80% (3,415 people) reported that their general health was either very good or good. 

  • Some 5% of those who responded to the question reported bad or very bad health.

  • Fair, bad or very bad health was more prevalent among male respondents (24%) than female respondents (17%).

Figure 3.4 Homeless people by general health and sex, 2022
Table 3.4 Homeless people by general health and sex, 2022

Disability

In the census, the term disability refers to people who reported experiencing long-lasting conditions or difficulties on two questions on the census form. Based on these questions, it is possible to identify three categories reflecting the extent to which long-lasting conditions or difficulties were experienced.

  • Long-lasting condition or difficulty experienced to any extent.

  • Long-lasting condition or difficulty experienced to a great extent.

  • Long-lasting condition or difficulty experienced to some extent.

Among the State population, 22% of people reported experiencing at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty to any extent.

Just over 41% of the homeless population (4,245 people) provided at least one response to a category in either question on long-lasting conditions or difficulties. This entailed a non-response rate of 59% to the questions on this subject.

  • A total of 1,527 respondents (36%) reported experiencing at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty to any extent.

  • There were 774 people who reported experiencing at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty to a great extent or a lot.

  • Over 750 people reported experiencing at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty to some extent or a little.

  • There were more males than females in each of these three categories.

Figure 3.5 Homeless people experiencing a long-lasting condition or difficulty to any, some or a great extent by sex, 2022

Type of Long-Lasting Conditions or Difficulties

Among the homeless population who provided at least one response to a category in either question, the most common long-lasting condition or difficulty experienced to any extent was a psychological or emotional condition or mental health issue, recorded by 755 people.

  • This was also the most common condition or difficulty experienced to a great extent (308 people).

  • A further 602 people experienced a difficulty with pain, breathing or any other chronic illness or condition to any extent.

Figure 3.6 Homeless people experiencing a long-lasting condition or difficulty to some or a great extent, 2022
Table 3.5 Homeless people experiencing a long-lasting condition or difficulty to any, some or a great extent, 2022