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Extra information
For more information on this release:
E-mail: labour@cso.ie Catalina Gonzalez (+353) 87 646 7535 Martina O'Callaghan (+353) 21 453 5491
For general information on CSO statistics:
information@cso.ie (+353) 21 453 5000 On-line ISSN 2009-535X
CSO statistical release, , 11am

Live Register

March 2021

 Live Register TotalSeasonally AdjustedPandemic Unemployment Payment
March 2020205,209209,600393,973
February 2021186,702189,000468,891
March 2021183,096186,300443,247
    
Change in month -2,700- 25,644
Change in year-22,113 +49,274

Total number of persons on the Live Register or receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment decreased by 5.7% to 617,441 over the month to March 2021.

Live Register Seasonally Adjusted
go to full release

A range of measures were introduced by the Government to provide income support for those whose employment has been affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland. The available schemes are being administered by the Department of Social Protection (DSP) and the Revenue Commissioners. See our Infographic.

At the end of March 2021, 443,247 of those whose income from employment has been affected due to COVID-19 were being facilitated through the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) which is administered by the DSP. The current release is the first time the CSO has been able to analyse a full year of the number of people in receipt on the PUP. There are currently 49,274 more persons in receipt of the PUP than at the end of March 2020.  Users should consider the impact of Government restrictions when comparing the numbers of people in receipt of the PUP at different points in time.

The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) was replaced by the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) on 01 September 2020. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has not yet disseminated EWSS data but will continue to work with the Revenue Commissioners to make this available to users as soon as possible. See Annex Table A2.

The CSO has worked to identify the detail available from the different sources and how the different schemes should be classified for statistical purposes. There is some overlap between those who meet the criteria to be included on the Live Register and those who are benefitting from the COVID-19 income support schemes. These overlaps occur due to the different frequency of the payments, and the fact that some persons who are included on the Live Register may not be receiving a payment and so might be benefitting from either the PUP or the TWSS. Once EWSS data is available we will include it in Table A2 in similar manner.

As users will be aware, the Live Register is a series which is available back to 1967 on the CSO’s PxStat tabular data service. The Live Register series is of immense historical value and the CSO is keen to protect the continuity of the series, while also trying to make as much information as possible available to users, charting the labour market effects of COVID-19.

The CSO published an information note on 01 April 2020 for users on the implications of the COVID-19 income support measures on the Live Register and the Monthly Unemployment Estimates releases. That information note is available here: Information Note on Implications of COVID-19 on the Live Register and the Monthly Unemployment Estimates. The information note outlines why those in receipt of the COVID-19 income support payments are not included on the Live Register unless they meet the usual criteria to be included on the Live Register.

The unadjusted number of persons on the Live Register for each month since March 2020 may include a small number of applicants for the PUP who were advised to apply for Jobseekers Benefit if they have a dependant adult and at least one child, or four or more children in the case of no dependant adult.

The COVID-19 income supports were originally set up as short-term emergency income supports but they have been extended several times and there have been changes made in terms of the eligibility criteria and how they are being administered. While the PUP and the TWSS were both expected to cease in August 2020, the PUP is currently expected to continue until the end of June 2021 while the TWSS has been replaced by the EWSS from 01 September 2020.

A review of non-recipient Live Register claims is ongoing at the DSP and relates primarily to cases where a person who was in receipt of the PUP has since closed their PUP claim and reported a return to employment. This will impact the Live Register totals, as some of these non-recipient jobseeker claims were included on the Live Register, but their jobseeker claims were not automatically closed at that time. Please see the Technical Note published by the CSO alongside the Live Register release for August 2020 for more information including an analysis of Live Register components based on their recipient status. A table providing a breakdown of Live Register claimants since February 2019 by recipient and non-recipient status is also available in Annex Table A3 at the end of this Live Register release today, while the corresponding series from January 2012 onwards is also available on PxStat.

The Live Register for March 2021 has been compiled in the traditional way and the usual tables are included below. The CSO will continue to evaluate the available income support schemes and the results of the recipient and non-recipient analysis of the Live Register to determine whether any changes are required to the methodology for the Live Register to improve the usability of the series. In the meantime, caution needs to be exercised when assessing monthly changes. Any changes the CSO may make to the Live Register methodology in the future will be clearly outlined to users in the Live Register release and accompanying material.

The detailed commentary usually provided on the Live Register tables has not been included here but can be made available to users on request to labour@cso.ie.

The Live Register is not designed to measure unemployment.  It includes part-time workers (those who work up to three days a week), seasonal and casual workers entitled to Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB) or Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA).  Unemployment is measured by the Labour Force Survey.

The Monthly Unemployment Rate (seasonally adjusted) is published in the Monthly Unemployment Release.  

 

The unadjusted Live Register total for March 2021 was 183,096 persons; this consisted of 103,283 males (56.4%) and 79,813 females (43.6%). Of those on the Live Register for March 2021, 20,302 or 11.1%, are under 25 years of age, while 162,794 or 88.9%, are 25 years of age and over. See Table 1a.

On an adjusted basis, the number of male and female claimants on the Live Register were 103,900 and 82,500 representing 55.8% and 44.3% of the seasonally adjusted Live Register total respectively. See Table 2a.

A total of 443,247 persons were in receipt of the PUP for the last week of March 2021; this consisted of 242,105 males (54.6%) and 201,142 females (45.4%). Of those claiming the PUP, 106,865 or 24.1%, are under 25 years of age, while 336,382 or 75.9%, are 25 years of age and over. See Table A2.

A total of 617,441 persons were either on the Live Register or were benefitting from the PUP in March 2021. This compares to 654,545 in the month of February 2021.

The CSO has been working with, and will continue to collaborate with, both the DSP and the Revenue Commissioners to meet user needs for availability of detailed aggregates for the recipients of both the PUP and the TWSS/ EWSS respectively. Tables providing breakdowns of the numbers benefitting from the PUP and the TWSS and the numbers of persons on the Live Register for each week since March 2020 by sex, age group, county and nationality grouping are available at the following link: PxStat LRW Tables. This link also contains tables for the corresponding numbers included on the Live Register for each week as well as a total number of persons with overlaps removed who are either on the Live Register for each week or who were benefitting from either the PUP or the TWSS up to 31 August 2020. As already mentioned, the CSO has not yet disseminated EWSS data but will continue to work with the Revenue Commissioners to make this data available to users as soon as possible. The final update to the number of persons benefitting from the TWSS is included in the PxStat tables linked above. No further TWSS updates will be provided given that the TWSS scheme is now closed. It should be noted that DSP has been paying arrears to recipients of the PUP, to account for the movement of people in and out of employment. The main arrears payment occurred on 01 December 2020. All arrears paid to date are now included in the week of the entitlement period, rather than the week of payment.

The Department of Social Protection (DSP) have supplied supplementary information on whether PUP recipients were in full-time education when asked to certify their status on the MyWelfare.ie service. While it should be noted that this information is not complete, it is estimated that at least 8.1% of all recipients of PUP since March 2020 were attending full-time education at the time of certification. For those aged 25 years and over this could be as low as 1.3% while it is at least 33.3% for those aged under 25 years. If the PUP scheme did not exist, those persons, being in full-time education, would not be eligible to receive Unemployment Assistance or Unemployment Benefit and so would not be included on the Live Register.

The Labour Market Analysis area of the CSO are compiling a mailing list of users who wish to register their interest in being kept informed of Labour Market related updates from the CSO. These email updates will include advising users of any updates to the aggregate tables available at the link above. If you wish to be included in this mailing list, please email labour@cso.ie and register your email address for inclusion on the mailing list.

Annex - Activation Programmes

Data up to the end of February 2021 on the number of persons availing of a range of programmes targeted primarily at the long-term unemployed (over 12 months) and other welfare recipients is provided in the Annex Table A1 – Number of persons availing of Activation Programmes table.

There were 39,507 persons availing of these programmes in February 2021, which is a decrease of 8,955 persons (-18.5%) from the previous year, when there were 48,462 persons in activation programmes. 

Persons on activation programmes are not counted as part of the monthly Live Register. 

DurationLess than one yearOne year or more
March 201911630076107
April 201911817874940
May 201911362976238
June 201911991677192
July 201912973876658
August 201912328875805
September 201911218971594
October 201911131369146
November 201910955268002
December 201911443867558
January 202011605067705
February 202011574566871
March 202013824466965
April 202014629168450
May 202015579869864
June 202014920471667
July 202016982274740
August 202015003975805
September 202013559675896
October 202012844274730
November 202011895375105
December 202011405075810
January 202111090577638
February 202110748379219
March 202110194681150
Under 25 years25 years and over
March 201920450171957
March 202023397181812
March 202120302162794
Broad Occupational GroupMarch 2019March 2020March 2021
110112109628492
2111481284510234
3660069416603
4206202147716926
5329663389027047
6258383158722329
7198241917416147
8296103061024371
9236902484622193
10119991287728754
KEY  
1- Managers and administrators
2- Professional
3- Associate professional and technical
4- Clerical and secretarial
5- Craft and related
6- Personal and Protective service
7- Sales
8- Plant and machine operatives
9- Other occupation
10- No occupation

 

Table 1(a) Total persons on the Live Register
CategoryMarch 2020February 2021March 2021Monthly changeAnnual change
Males
    JB Claims25,54918,80017,794-1,006-7,755
    JA Applications81,22980,41279,640-772-1,589
    Other Registrants6,4905,9025,849-53-641
    Total113,268105,114103,283-1,831-9,985
 
Females
    JB Claims28,44319,64618,637-1,009-9,806
    JA Applications49,06748,57447,943-631-1,124
    Other Registrants14,43113,36813,233-135-1,198
    Total91,94181,58879,813-1,775-12,128
 
All Persons
    JB Claims53,99238,44636,431-2,015-17,561
    JA Applications130,296128,986127,583-1,403-2,713
    Other Registrants20,92119,27019,082-188-1,839
    Total205,209186,702183,096-3,606-22,113
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2021 Table 1(a) (XLS 37KB)
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Table 1(b) Persons under 25 years of age on the Live Register
CategoryMarch 2020February 2021March 2021Monthly changeAnnual change
Males
    JB Claims1,848971877-94-971
    JA Applications11,18710,83910,724-115-463
    Other Registrants394033-7-6
    Total13,07411,85011,634-216-1,440
 
Females
    JB Claims2,4281,2041,121-83-1,307
    JA Applications7,8517,6777,516-161-335
    Other Registrants442931+2-13
    Total10,3238,9108,668-242-1,655
 
All Persons
    JB Claims4,2762,1751,998-177-2,278
    JA Applications19,03818,51618,240-276-798
    Other Registrants836964-5-19
    Total23,39720,76020,302-458-3,095
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2021 Table 1(b) (XLS 34KB)
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Table 1(c) Persons 25 years of age and over on the Live Register
CategoryMarch 2020February 2021March 2021Monthly changeAnnual change
Males
    JB Claims23,70117,82916,917-912-6,784
    JA Applications70,04269,57368,916-657-1,126
    Other Registrants6,4515,8625,816-46-635
    Total100,19493,26491,649-1,615-8,545
 
Females
    JB Claims26,01518,44217,516-926-8,499
    JA Applications41,21640,89740,427-470-789
    Other Registrants14,38713,33913,202-137-1,185
    Total81,61872,67871,145-1,533-10,473
 
All Persons
    JB Claims49,71636,27134,433-1,838-15,283
    JA Applications111,258110,470109,343-1,127-1,915
    Other Registrants20,83819,20119,018-183-1,820
    Total181,812165,942162,794-3,148-19,018
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2021 Table 1(c) (XLS 34KB)
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Table 2(a) Total persons on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
 Unadjusted SeriesSeasonally Adjusted Series¹
 MonthMalesFemalesAll Persons MalesFemalesAll Persons
2019March109,13083,277192,407109,20086,900196,000
 April107,76585,353193,118108,20086,600194,900
 May107,01882,849189,867106,50085,500191,900
 June108,27388,835197,108105,60084,700190,300
 July108,93697,460206,396104,90084,000188,900
 August107,84991,244199,093104,50083,200187,600
 September103,54880,235183,783105,00082,400187,400
 October100,96179,498180,459104,80083,000187,800
 November100,65976,895177,554104,80082,000186,800
 December102,87879,118181,996104,70081,900186,600
 
2020January104,60579,150183,755104,20081,700185,900
 February103,59679,020182,616103,10081,200184,300
 March113,26891,941205,209113,60095,900209,600
 April119,23295,509214,741119,90096,900216,800
 May124,960100,702225,662124,300103,600227,900
 June121,10899,763220,871118,00095,500213,500
 July132,446112,116244,562127,80097,500225,300
 August122,503103,341225,844118,50094,600213,000
 September117,52893,964211,492118,30095,600213,900
 October112,25390,919203,172116,00094,100210,000
 November108,25885,800194,058112,50091,200203,700
 December106,15283,708189,860108,40086,900195,300
 
2021January106,25982,284188,543106,30085,200191,600
 February105,11481,588186,702105,10083,900189,000
 March103,28379,813183,096 103,90082,500186,300
¹ Table contains revised figures
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2021 Table 2(a) (XLS 40KB)
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Table 2(b) Persons under 25 years of age on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
 Unadjusted Series Seasonally Adjusted Series¹
 MonthMalesFemalesAll Persons MalesFemalesAll Persons
2019March12,0308,42020,45012,2008,80021,000
 April11,6788,27119,94912,0008,70020,600
 May11,8918,45620,34711,7008,50020,200
 June12,2939,25521,54811,5008,50020,000
 July12,5009,99022,49011,5008,40019,900
 August12,7269,74522,47111,5008,30019,900
 September11,9498,39320,34211,7008,30020,000
 October11,1997,71918,91811,8008,20020,000
 November11,0007,36218,36211,9008,30020,200
 December11,1007,36918,46912,1008,30020,400
 
2020January11,7387,85319,59112,2008,30020,500
 February11,6998,03319,73212,0008,30020,300
 March13,07410,32323,39713,30010,80024,200
 April14,28111,31725,59814,60011,90026,600
 May16,27813,33929,61715,90013,50029,400
 June16,34313,23629,57915,20012,10027,300
 July17,84314,82832,67116,30012,40028,700
 August17,10714,25731,36415,40012,10027,500
 September15,96012,81728,77715,50012,60028,100
 October13,85011,02124,87114,60011,80026,400
 November12,98410,23523,21914,10011,50025,600
 December11,9369,06521,00113,10010,20023,300
 
2021January11,9859,03421,01912,6009,60022,200
 February11,8508,91020,76012,3009,20021,500
 March11,6348,66820,302 11,9009,10021,000
¹ Table contains revised figures
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2021 Table 2(b) (XLS 39KB)
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Table 2(c) Persons 25 years of age and over on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
  Unadjusted SeriesSeasonally Adjusted Series¹
 MonthMalesFemalesAll Persons MalesFemalesAll Persons
2019March97,10074,857171,957 96,90078,100175,000
 April96,08777,082173,169 96,30077,900174,200
 May95,12774,393169,520 94,80076,900171,700
 June95,98079,580175,560 94,10076,200170,300
 July96,43687,470183,906 93,40075,600169,000
 August95,12381,499176,622 92,90074,800167,800
 September91,59971,842163,441 93,30074,100167,400
 October89,76271,779161,541 93,10074,700167,800
 November89,65969,533159,192 92,90073,700166,600
 December91,77871,749163,527 92,60073,600166,200
 
2020January92,86771,297164,164 92,00073,400165,400
 February91,89770,987162,884 91,10072,900164,000
 March100,19481,618181,812 100,30085,100185,400
 April104,95184,192189,143 105,20085,000190,200
 May108,68287,363196,045 108,40090,100198,500
 June104,76586,527191,292 102,80083,400186,200
 July114,60397,288211,891 111,50085,100196,700
 August105,39689,084194,480 103,10082,500185,600
 September101,56881,147182,715 102,80083,000185,800
 October98,40379,898178,301 101,40082,300183,700
 November95,27475,565170,839 98,40079,700178,100
 December94,21674,643168,859 95,30076,700172,000
 
2021January94,27473,250167,524 93,70075,700169,400
 February93,26472,678165,942 92,80074,700167,500
 March91,64971,145162,794 91,90073,400165,300
¹ Table contains revised figures
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2021 Table 2(c) (XLS 40KB)
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Table 3 Summary of flows on and off the Live Register¹
  Males Females All Claimants
  Live RegisterJoined Live RegisterStayed on Live RegisterLeft Live Register Live RegisterJoined Live RegisterStayed on Live RegisterLeft Live Register Live RegisterJoined Live RegisterStayed on Live RegisterLeft Live Register
JB Claims
2020March25,5499,38516,1642,678 28,44312,11616,3272,697 53,99221,50132,4915,375
 April28,3356,20122,1342,666 29,6654,99524,6703,124 58,00011,19646,8045,790
 May29,7805,14924,6313,114 31,2164,95626,2602,851 60,99610,10550,8915,965
 June26,6824,61122,0717,035 30,1086,18823,9206,670 56,79010,79945,99113,705
 July33,46312,85620,6075,074 37,35913,13424,2254,970 70,82225,99044,83210,044
 August24,7474,76719,98012,595 29,9594,91125,04811,558 54,7069,67845,02824,153
 September22,1544,25217,9026,010 23,9974,81619,18110,123 46,1519,06837,08316,133
 October21,4416,20315,2385,973 24,2787,44316,8356,262 45,71913,64632,07312,235
 November19,8503,34616,5044,189 21,4733,26218,2115,460 41,3236,60834,7159,649
 December18,9852,99915,9862,983 20,7673,26517,5023,309 39,7526,26433,4886,292
 
2021January19,1963,45515,7412,735 19,7943,01516,7793,561 38,9906,47032,5206,296
 February18,8002,38516,4152,349 19,6462,46817,1782,279 38,4464,85333,5934,628
 March17,7941,79715,9972,328 18,6371,80316,8342,393 36,4313,60032,8314,721
 
JA Applications
2020March81,2297,57373,6564,445 49,0676,50942,5582,698 130,29614,082116,2147,143
 April84,4765,30279,1742,756 51,4623,91947,5432,033 135,9389,221126,7174,789
 May88,8166,48682,3302,702 55,2605,49749,7632,175 144,07611,983132,0934,877
 June88,0885,72282,3667,061 55,2945,49149,8035,927 143,38211,213132,16912,988
 July92,7009,37783,3235,704 60,0568,34551,7114,300 152,75617,722135,03410,004
 August91,5026,17885,3248,196 58,8014,86653,9356,704 150,30311,044139,25914,900
 September89,2385,44183,7978,476 55,8564,23051,6267,703 145,0949,671135,42316,179
 October84,7036,11978,58411,494 52,6315,16947,4629,101 137,33411,288126,04620,595
 November82,3413,75478,5876,802 50,5263,08847,4385,662 132,8676,842126,02512,464
 December81,1812,95078,2314,925 49,2242,25346,9714,065 130,4055,203125,2028,990
 
2021January81,1113,33377,7783,880 48,9992,64946,3503,220 130,1105,982124,1287,100
 February80,4122,60877,8043,686 48,5742,12846,4462,817 128,9864,736124,2506,503
 March79,6402,35877,2823,541 47,9431,80446,1392,770 127,5834,162123,4216,311
 
Other Registrants
2020March6,490966,394257 14,43123514,196546 20,92133120,590803
 April6,421876,334203 14,38219214,190382 20,80327920,524585
 May6,364566,308148 14,22610614,120339 20,59016220,428487
 June6,338796,259165 14,36122814,133252 20,69930720,392417
 July6,283946,189212 14,70152414,177379 20,98461820,366591
 August6,254696,185166 14,58116014,421450 20,83522920,606616
 September6,136816,055263 14,11115813,953755 20,24723920,0081,018
 October6,1091205,989249 14,01029213,718587 20,11941219,707836
 November6,0671195,948222 13,80119513,606543 19,86831419,554765
 December5,986985,888246 13,71723013,487465 19,70332819,375711
 
2021January5,9521105,842177 13,49115013,341456 19,44326019,183633
 February5,902685,834170 13,36815613,212353 19,27022419,046523
 March5,849655,784183 13,23310513,128323 19,08217018,912506
 
All Schemes
2020March113,26817,05496,2147,380 91,94118,86073,0815,941 205,20935,914169,29513,321
 April119,23211,590107,6425,625 95,5099,10686,4035,539 214,74120,696194,04511,164
 May124,96011,691113,2695,964 100,70210,55990,1435,365 225,66222,250203,41211,329
 June121,10810,412110,69614,261 99,76311,90787,85612,849 220,87122,319198,55227,110
 July132,44622,327110,11910,990 112,11622,00390,1139,649 244,56244,330200,23220,639
 August122,50311,014111,48920,957 103,3419,93793,40418,712 225,84420,951204,89339,669
 September117,5289,774107,75414,749 93,9649,20484,76018,581 211,49218,978192,51433,330
 October112,25312,44299,81117,716 90,91912,90478,01515,950 203,17225,346177,82633,666
 November108,2587,219101,03911,213 85,8006,54579,25511,665 194,05813,764180,29422,878
 December106,1526,047100,1058,154 83,7085,74877,9607,839 189,86011,795178,06515,993
 
2021January106,2596,89899,3616,792 82,2845,81476,4707,237 188,54312,712175,83114,029
 February105,1145,061100,0536,205 81,5884,75276,8365,449 186,7029,813176,88911,654
 March103,2834,22099,0636,052 79,8133,71276,1015,486 183,0967,932175,16411,538
1 Flow analysis: inflows and outflows published in this table do not take account of inter-scheme activity within the Live Register. For example, if a claimant exhausts his/her entitlement to JB and opens a new JA claim this is counted as an outflow in JB and an inflow in JA.
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2021 Table 3 (XLS 69KB)
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Table 4 Persons on the Live Register classified by region
NUTS2 and NUTS3 Regions¹March 2020February 2021March 2021Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Males
      Northern and Western21,58219,83819,555-283-2,0272,09117,464
      Border11,21710,27110,165-106-1,0521,1259,040
      West10,3659,5679,390-177-9759668,424
 
      Southern 36,94434,88634,153-733-2,7913,80930,344
      Mid-West11,58911,07910,926-153-6631,2469,680
      South-East12,49211,67611,482-194-1,0101,40510,077
      South-West12,86312,13111,745-386-1,1181,15810,587
 
     Eastern and Midland49,68949,00848,419-589-1,2705,43342,986
      Dublin27,48027,85427,615-239+1352,93724,678
      Mid-East14,05413,58113,350-231-7041,57111,779
      Midland8,1557,5737,454-119-7019256,529
      Total113,268105,114103,283-1,831-9,98511,63491,649
 
Females
      Northern and Western18,06615,92115,666-255-2,4001,66813,998
      Border9,1538,0868,008-78-1,1459187,090
      West8,9137,8357,658-177-1,2557506,908
 
      Southern 29,43726,86126,218-643-3,2192,93023,288
      Mid-West8,7257,9867,845-141-8809726,873
      South-East9,7019,1978,998-199-7031,0257,973
      South-West11,0119,6789,375-303-1,6369338,442
 
     Eastern and Midland37,65237,50836,828-680-8243,83432,994
      Dublin19,13919,91819,567-351+4281,87117,696
      Mid-East11,80211,30911,078-231-7241,1549,924
      Midland6,7116,2816,183-98-5288095,374
      Total91,94181,58879,813-1,775-12,1288,66871,145
 
All Persons
      Northern and Western39,64835,75935,221-538-4,4273,75931,462
      Border20,37018,35718,173-184-2,1972,04316,130
      West19,27817,40217,048-354-2,2301,71615,332
 
      Southern 66,38161,74760,371-1,376-6,0106,73953,632
      Mid-West20,31419,06518,771-294-1,5432,21816,553
      South-East22,19320,87320,480-393-1,7132,43018,050
      South-West23,87421,80921,120-689-2,7542,09119,029
 
     Eastern and Midland87,34186,51685,247-1,269-2,0949,26775,980
      Dublin46,61947,77247,182-590+5634,80842,374
      Mid-East25,85624,89024,428-462-1,4282,72521,703
      Midland14,86613,85413,637-217-1,2291,73411,903
      Total2205,209186,702183,096-3,606-22,11320,302162,794
1 The composition of the regions is described in the Background Notes
2 From January 2018, registrations which have yet not being assigned to a DSP local office of registration are included in the Live Register Totals. These registrations are not included in individual NUTS3/ NUTS2 totals in this table
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2021 Table 4 (XLS 49KB)
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Table 5 Persons on the Live Register classified by last held occupation
Broad occupational groupMarch 2020February 2021March 2021Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Males
Managers and administrators5,7734,7564,644-112-1,1291064,538
Professional5,4824,6374,523-114-9592024,321
Associate professional and technical 3,6993,7933,713-80+142103,503
Clerical and secretarial5,6814,8164,676-140-1,0053924,284
Craft and related 27,89623,03122,588-443-5,3081,46921,119
Personal and protective service10,2357,7717,682-89-2,5536277,055
Sales7,0046,0125,903-109-1,1011,2214,682
Plant and machine operatives21,78618,16517,734-431-4,0521,60416,130
Other occupation18,08016,25215,998-254-2,0821,82814,170
No occupation¹7,63215,88115,822-59+8,1903,97511,847
Total 113,268105,114103,283-1,831-9,98511,63491,649
 
Females
Managers and administrators5,1893,9243,848-76-1,341633,785
Professional7,3635,9635,711-252-1,6522125,499
Associate professional and technical 3,2422,9842,890-94-3521202,770
Clerical and secretarial15,79612,77112,250-521-3,54643011,820
Craft and related 5,9944,5754,459-116-1,5354504,009
Personal and protective service21,35214,98514,647-338-6,7051,39313,254
Sales12,17010,41310,244-169-1,9261,4778,767
Plant and machine operatives8,8246,7876,637-150-2,1876865,951
Other occupation6,7666,2926,195-97-5719085,287
No occupation¹5,24512,89412,932+38+7,6872,92910,003
Total91,94181,58879,813-1,775-12,1288,66871,145
 
All Persons
Managers and administrators10,9628,6808,492-188-2,4701698,323
Professional12,84510,60010,234-366-2,6114149,820
Associate professional and technical 6,9416,7776,603-174-3383306,273
Clerical and secretarial21,47717,58716,926-661-4,55182216,104
Craft and related 33,89027,60627,047-559-6,8431,91925,128
Personal and protective service31,58722,75622,329-427-9,2582,02020,309
Sales19,17416,42516,147-278-3,0272,69813,449
Plant and machine operatives30,61024,95224,371-581-6,2392,29022,081
Other occupation24,84622,54422,193-351-2,6532,73619,457
No occupation¹12,87728,77528,754-21+15,8776,90421,850
Total 205,209186,702183,096-3,606-22,11320,302162,794
¹ Includes those who never worked and those who have no stated occupation
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2021 Table 5 (XLS 44KB)
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Table 6 Persons on the Live Register classified by duration of continuous registration
DurationMarch 2020February 2021March 2021Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Males
   Less than one year73,96157,38654,314-3,072-19,6477,28747,027
   One year or more39,30747,72848,969+1,241+9,6624,34744,622
   Total113,268105,114103,283-1,831-9,98511,63491,649
 
Females
   Less than one year64,28350,09747,632-2,465-16,6516,07941,553
   One year or more27,65831,49132,181+690+4,5232,58929,592
   Total91,94181,58879,813-1,775-12,1288,66871,145
 
All Persons
   Less than one year138,244107,483101,946-5,537-36,29813,36688,580
   One year or more66,96579,21981,150+1,931+14,1856,93674,214
   Total205,209186,702183,096-3,606-22,11320,302162,794
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2021 Table 6 (XLS 34KB)
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Table 7 Casual and part-time workers on the Live Register
  MalesMonthly change FemalesMonthly change All PersonsMonthly change
2019March19,803-287 20,956-218 40,759-505
 April19,280-523 20,403-553 39,683-1,076
 May18,502-778 19,894-509 38,396-1,287
 June18,259-243 19,856-38 38,115-281
 July17,915-344 19,671-185 37,586-529
 August17,543-372 19,236-435 36,779-807
 September17,408-135 18,703-533 36,111-668
 October17,320-88 18,629-74 35,949-162
 November17,562+242 18,964+335 36,526+577
 December17,754+192 19,062+98 36,816+290
 
2020January17,561-193 18,794-268 36,355-461
 February17,661+100 18,945+151 36,606+251
 March17,689+28 18,918-27 36,607+1
 April17,436-253 18,861-57 36,297-310
 May17,643+207 18,873+12 36,516+219
 June17,630-13 19,026+153 36,656+140
 July17,763+133 19,458+432 37,221+565
 August17,412-351 19,269-189 36,681-540
 September17,305-107 19,557+288 36,862+181
 October19,678+2,373 22,310+2,753 41,988+5,126
 November19,692+14 22,050-260 41,742-246
 December19,304-388 21,454-596 40,758-984
 
2021January19,142-162 20,815-639 39,957-801
 February18,984-158 20,303-512 39,287-670
 March18,498-486 19,811-492 38,309-978
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2021 Table 7 (XLS 43KB)
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Table 8 Persons on the Live Register classified by nationality grouping
  Nationality grouping
  Non-Irish nationals     
  United KingdomEU14_2020 excl. IRL 1EU15-EU27_2020 1Other  Non-Irish nationalsIrish nationalsAll Persons
2019March7,5572,43818,8735,948 34,816157,591192,407
 April7,4722,43618,4815,953 34,342158,776193,118
 May7,4042,39318,0276,232 34,056155,811189,867
 June7,5902,46718,0606,545 34,662162,446197,108
 July7,8202,55418,1266,735 35,235171,161206,396
 August7,6672,49217,7886,696 34,643164,450199,093
 September7,0532,37217,4176,538 33,380150,403183,783
 October6,9582,26516,7855,921 31,929148,530180,459
 November6,9352,31816,8355,837 31,925145,629177,554
 December7,1402,39517,3685,890 32,793149,203181,996
         
2020January7,1552,48817,8736,031 33,547150,208183,755
 February7,1082,46917,8356,050 33,462149,154182,616
 March7,7643,54521,0788,983 41,370163,839205,209
 April8,0813,82722,17410,196 44,278170,463214,741
 May8,3984,40623,14012,483 48,427177,235225,662
 June8,2663,65321,81810,280 44,017176,854220,871
 July9,0544,08924,28911,898 49,330195,232244,562
 August8,4903,70421,40610,980 44,580181,264225,844
 September8,0503,41420,5699,756 41,789169,703211,492
 October7,7913,39620,2658,333 39,785163,387203,172
 November7,4883,18919,2037,494 37,374156,684194,058
 December7,3343,02118,6367,076 36,067153,793189,860
         
2021January7,3522,93318,6887,121 36,094152,449188,543
 February7,3012,86818,4367,071 35,676151,026186,702
 March7,2012,81018,1306,953 35,094148,002183,096
1 In light of the United Kingdom (UK) leaving the European Union with effect from 1 February 2020, the EU classification has been updated.
EU14_2020 excl. IRL before February 2020 was formally classified as EU15 excl. IRL & UK.
EU15-EU27_2020 before February 2020 was formally classified as EU15 to EU28 States.
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2021 Table 8 (XLS 44KB)
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Annex Table A1 - Number of persons availing of Activation Programmes
 February 2020January 2021February 2021
Back to Work Schemes    
Back to Work Enterprise allowance scheme -self employed strand3,9302,6482,585
Short-term Enterprise Allowance1 271160155
Total Back to Work payments 4,2012,8082,740
 
Other Activation Programmes    
DSP Part-time Job Incentive177317228
TUS - Community Work Placement Initiative (2011)5,5024,0714,028
Total Other Activation Programmes5,6794,3884,256
     
Community Employment Schemes (excluding Supervisors)21,13119,42919,328
 
SOLAS (FAS) Full Time Training for Unemployed People 7,8804,7924,698
     
Back to Education Courses    
Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS)22,7042,2122,191
Back to Education Allowance (BTEA)36,8676,4296,294
Total Back to Education Courses49,5718,6418,485
     
Total Activation Programmes48,46240,05839,507
1 This scheme was introduced from 1st May 2009. It provides immediate support for someone in receipt of Jobseekers Benefit who wants to start a business.
2 Starting from January 2019, VTOS figures for 2018 and 2019 are being supplied directly from the new SOLAS computer system PLSS. VTOS figures were estimated at 5,000 per month to December 2017.
3 BTEA figures include all schemes but participants from JA & JB are not entitled to BTEA during the summer holidays. In 2020 the majority of BTEA recipients were paid for the summer period.
4 Includes MOMENTUM participants from February 2013.
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2021 – Annex (XLS 37KB)
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Annex Table A2 Number of Persons on the Live Register and in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment or Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme and Total (excluding overlaps)
Category Live RegisterPandemic Unemployment Payment 1Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme 1Total (Excluding overlaps) 1,2
March 20213Males    
     Under 25 years of age11,63453,018--
     25 years of age and over91,649189,087--
     Total103,283242,105--
      
 Females    
     Under 25 years of age8,66853,847--
     25 years of age and over71,145147,295--
     Total79,813201,142--
 
 All Persons    
     Under 25 years of age20,302106,865--
     25 years of age and over162,794336,382--
     Total183,096443,247--
 
February 20213Males    
     Under 25 years of age11,85055,457--
     25 years of age and over93,264202,317--
     Total105,114257,774--
 
 Females    
     Under 25 years of age8,91055,789--
     25 years of age and over72,678155,328--
     Total81,588211,117--
 
 All Persons    
     Under 25 years of age20,760111,246--
     25 years of age and over165,942357,645--
     Total186,702468,891--
 
March 20203Males    
     Under 25 years of age13,07440,9564,49941,729
     25 years of age and over100,194154,25624,050219,303
     Total113,268195,21228,549261,032
 
 Females  
     Under 25 years of age10,32349,8894,78839,135
     25 years of age and over81,618148,87220,777173,405
     Total91,941198,76125,565212,540
 
 All Persons    
     Under 25 years of age23,39790,8459,28780,864
     25 years of age and over181,812303,12844,827392,708
     Total205,209393,97354,114473,572
1Subject to revision due to different payment frequencies
2Total number of persons on the Live Register and/or receiving a Pandemic Unemployment Payment or in receipt of Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme
3The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme closed at the end of August 2020. The CSO has not yet disseminated data for the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme
 which replaced it so estimates for that scheme and the Total (Excluding overlaps) are not yet available.
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2021 Table A2 (XLS 41KB)
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Annex Table A3 - Live Register total classified by Recipient and Non-recipient
  RecipientsNon-RecipientsTotal
2019March174,73017,677192,407
 April170,18622,932193,118
 May171,66418,203189,867
 June175,36621,742197,108
 July184,10122,295206,396
 August180,22118,872199,093
 September164,38819,395183,783
 October159,05621,403180,459
 November159,72417,830177,554
 December168,13713,859181,996
 
2020January164,50719,248183,755
 February164,54718,069182,616
 March167,85437,355205,209
 April159,83154,910214,741
 May163,95661,706225,662
 June169,97650,895220,871
 July181,43863,124244,562
 August181,07944,765225,844
 September172,41939,073211,492
 October166,76636,406203,172
 November166,59127,467194,058
 December168,37221,488189,860
 
2021January164,96023,583188,543
 February165,93020,772186,702
 March163,58719,509183,096
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2021 Table A3 (XLS 10KB)
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Background Notes

Source and scope of the Live Register

The Live Register is compiled from returns made for each local office to the Central Statistics Office by the Department of Social Protection (DSP).  It comprises of persons under 65 years of age in the following classes:

  • All Claimants for Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB) excluding systematic short-time workers
  • Applicants for Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA) excluding smallholders/farm assists and other self-employed persons
  • Other registrants including applicants for credited Social Welfare contributions but excluding those directly involved in an industrial dispute.

The Live Register excludes those claimants on Jobseeker schemes who are 65 years of age and over. There was no change to this exclusion criterion with the removal of the State Pension (Transition) Scheme from 01 January 2014. Persons aged 65 years can remain on a Jobseeker scheme up to their next birthday but are not included in the Live Register.

Prior to January 2017, the DSP provided tabulated claimant counts directly to the CSO to facilitate production of the Live Register. These claimant counts were grouped by age, gender, occupation, nationality, duration, region, county and local welfare office. Data provided in this fashion is available from 1967 to December 2016.

Beginning with January 2017, the Live Register has been produced using claimant microdata from the DSP Integrated Short Term Scheme (ISTS) database. Claimants are determined to be on the Live Register if they fulfil the Live Register criteria and such persons are summarised and cross-tabulated to produce the counts published in the Live Register release.

As claimant count microdata was retrospectively available to January 2012, previously published Live Register data for this period were revised with data produced from the claimant microdata. These revisions were generally minor in nature and are included in this release as well as all relevant Statbank tables.

Source and scope of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment

The Pandemic Unemployment Payment is a scheme set up by the Government in response to the loss of income for those whose employment had been affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland. It is compiled from returns made to the Central Statistics Office by the Department of Social Protection (DSP). Payments under the scheme commenced on the week ending 22 March 2020, and will be reported under the Live Register release while the scheme is in place. 

Source and scope of the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme

The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme is another scheme set up by the Government in response to the loss of income for those whose employment had been affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland. It is compiled from returns made to the Central Statistics Office by the Revenue Commissioners. Refunds are issued to employers registered under the scheme, who in turn pay their employees. The figures in this release reflect the number of persons receiving a payment under the scheme based on the pay date of the employee and will be reported a weekly basis as well as a monthly cumulative. Refunds under the scheme commenced on the week ending 28 March 2020, but might refer to earlier pay dates. Please see PxStat.

Reference Periods

The reference periods for the Live Register and the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (where applicable) results are as follows

March 2021 – 1 March to 28 March 2021

February 2021 – 1 February to 28 February 2021

January 2021 - 4 January to 31 January 2021

December 2020 - 30 November 2020 to 3 January 2021

March 2020 - 2 March to 29 March 2020

From May 2015 (reference period) the reference period for the Live Register refers to the week of the last Thursday in the month, previously the reference period referred to the week of the last Friday in the month.

The Live Register is not designed to measure unemployment.  It includes part-time (those who work up to three days a week), seasonal and casual workers entitled to Jobseekers Allowance and or Jobseekers Benefit.  Monthly unemployment is measured by the Monthly Unemployment release and quarterly unemployment is measured by the Labour Force Survey (formerly the Quarterly National Household Survey).

The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) was replaced by the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) on 01 September 2020.  The final update to the number of persons benefitting from the TWSS on a weekly basis  is included in the PxStat tables. No further TWSS updates will be provided given that the TWSS scheme is now closed. 

Standardised unemployment rates

The Standardised Unemployment Rate (SUR) series, previously in Table 3, has been discontinued from May 2015. It has been replaced by the Monthly Unemployment series which was published on 31 March 2021.

Labour Force Survey 

The Labour Force Survey (LFS), was launched in January 2018 with the publication of Quarter 3 2017 data (Q3 2017). The Labour Force survey replaced the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS).

The LFS provides quarterly estimates of the unemployment rate.

The calendar reference quarters for survey results are:
Q1 - January to March, Q2 - April to June, Q3 - July to September and Q4 - October to December.

Seasonal Adjustment

Since January 2011 the seasonal adjustment of the Live Register is completed by applying the X-12-ARIMA model, developed by the U.S. Census Bureau. Seasonal adjustment is conducted using the indirect approach, where each individual series is independently adjusted (male under 25 years, female under 25 years, male 25 years and over and female 25 years and over). To preserve consistency between the individual and aggregate series, the series for gender, age group and total Live Register are then created from these four component series.

The X-12 ARIMA method has the X-11 moving averages process at its core, but builds on this by providing options for pre-treating the series using a regARIMA approach for prior adjustment and series extension. In essence this methodology will estimate seasonal factors while taking account of temporary changes, outliers, level shifts and calendar effects (e.g timing of Easter).

All Live Register series are updated monthly. Revisions to the series are typically very minor in scale.

Seasonally adjusting the Live Register series during the Covid-19 crisis period will be challenging until the scale and shape of its impact on the time series is better understood. This initial seasonally adjusted result might be revised for some months ahead as future observations become available. Users should be aware that there is increases uncertainty around the seasonally adjusted figures during this period.

For additional information on the use of X-12-ARIMA see detailed note in the January 2011 Live Register release.

Jobseeker’s Benefit Duration

Prior to 19 January 2004 Jobseeker’s Benefit was payable for 15 months (390 days).

From 19 January 2004, Jobseeker’s Benefit could be paid for a maximum of 15 months (390 days) to people who had at least 260 paid PRSI contributions.  Jobseeker’s Benefit could be paid for a maximum of 12 months (312 days) to people who had less than 260 paid contributions (Refers to new claims).

From 15 October 2008, Jobseeker’s Benefit could be paid for a maximum of 12 months (312 days) to people who had at least 260 paid PRSI contributions.  Jobseeker’s Benefit could be paid for a maximum of 9 months (234 days) to people who had less than 260 paid contributions.

As of 3 April 2013, Jobseeker’s Benefit can be paid for a maximum of 9 months (234 days) to people who have 260 paid PRSI contributions. Jobseeker’s Benefit can be paid for a maximum of 6 months (156 days) to people who have less than 260 paid contributions (Refers to new claims).

Claimants getting Jobseeker’s Benefit for 6 months or more on 3 April 2013 (or 3 months for people with fewer than 260 contributions) will not be affected.

One-Parent Family Payment (OFP)

The One-Parent Family Payment is a social welfare payment for men and women who are younger than 66 and bring up children without the support of a partner and meet certain other criteria. Claimants on this scheme are not counted as part of the Live Register.

From July 2013 new rules came into operation reducing the age limits for the One-Parent Family Payment. This means that some people no longer qualify for the payment and may avail of other schemes or supports.

As a consequence, approximately 2,800 people in July 2013, 1,300 people in July 2014 and 2,786 people in July 2015, previously receiving the One-Parent Family Payment, made a claim for Jobseekers Allowance (JA) and will therefore appear on the Live Register.

For information on the age-related changes to the OFP scheme from July 2013, please see the following link to the DSP website:

http://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/278_One-Parent-Family-Payment.aspx

Live Register Flows

Live Register flows are calculated by analysing persons on the Live Register in the reference week of the reference month compared to those on the Live Register in the reference week of the previous month. The flows are calculated as follows:

Joined Live Register: Persons on the Live Register in the reference week of the current month who were not present on the Live Register in the reference week of the previous month.

Stayed on Live Register: Persons on the Live Register in the reference week of the current month who were also present on the Live Register in the reference week of the previous month.

Left Live Register: Persons not on the Live Register in the reference week of the current month who were present on the Live Register in the reference week of the previous month.

Inflows and outflows published in this release relate to persons moving on or off the Live Register. Inter-scheme movement is not counted as a Live Register flow. For example, if a claimant exhausts his/her entitlement to JB and opens a new JA claim, this is not counted as an outflow in JB and an inflow in JA. The person has moved scheme but has not joined nor left the Live Register. Thus, those persons who move schemes from one month to the next are counted as “Stayed on the Live Register”.

Live Register Area Analysis

The basis of the area analysis in Live Register statistics is the DSP local office of registration.  The areas served by Local Employment Offices do not correspond to specific geographic boundaries.  Therefore, registrants at a given local office do not necessarily come from a particular region or area which can be precisely delineated e.g. data for the Cork City Local Offices of Registration refers to all persons signing on in Cork City but may include persons not resident in Cork City. 

From January 2018, registrations which have yet not being assigned to a DSP local office of registration are included in the Live Register totals. Therefore as these registrations are not included in the regional breakdowns, the sum of these regions may not add to the Live Register totals.

The latest available Live Register data by Province, County and Local Office of Registration are published on the CSO website, through the CSO PxStat, on the publication of this release, see link here.

NUTS2 and NUTS3 regions

The regional classifications in this release is based on the NUTS (Nomenclature of Territorial Units) classification used by Eurostat. Until Q4 2017, the NUTS3 regions corresponded to the eight Regional Authorities established under the Local Government Act, 1991 (Regional Authorities) (Establishment) Order, 1993, which came into operation on 1 January 1994 while the NUTS2 regions, which were proposed by Government and agreed by Eurostat in 1999, were groupings of those historic NUTS3 regions.

However, the NUTS3 boundaries were amended on 21 November 2016 under Regulation (EC) No. 2066/2016 and have come into force from Q1 2018. These new groupings are reflected in the LFS results from Q1 2018 onwards. The changes resulting from the amendment are that County Louth has moved from the Border to the Mid-East and what was formerly South Tipperary has moved from the South-East to the Mid-West, resulting in the new NUTS2 and NUTS3 regions:

Northern & Western NUTS2 Region Southern NUTS2 Region Eastern & Midland NUTS2 Region
Border Cavan Mid-West Clare Dublin Dublin City
  Donegal   Limerick    Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown
  Leitrim   Tipperary   Fingal
  Monaghan       South Dublin
  Sligo        
    South-East Carlow Mid-East Kildare
West Galway   Kilkenny   Meath
  Mayo   Waterford   Wicklow
  Roscommon   Wexford   Louth
           
        Midland Laois
    South-West Cork    Longford
      Kerry   Offaly
          Westmeath

 

Occupations

Live Register occupational data is sourced from information collected by the DSP on the most recent occupation of claimants when they sign on the Live Register.  The classification used is based on the UK Standard Occupational Classification (SOC).  “No occupation” is an additional category and includes those who have never worked and those who have no stated occupation.

Age by Duration Analysis

Detailed tables relating to regional and scheme data are available on the CSO website through the CSO Main Data Dissemination Service, PxStat, to see these please click here.

Casual and part-time workers

The number of claimants on the Live Register who work on a casual and /or part-time basis is supplied by the DSP. People who work for part of a week may be eligible for Jobseeker’s Benefit or Jobseeker’s Allowance and may also be included on the Live Register, if the DSP is satisfied that they are not in full-time employment, are available for work and are looking for full-time employment.  

Nationality

Data in the nationality grouping table is sourced from information collected by the DSP on the nationality of claimants when they first sign on the Live Register.

For further information or assistance use the contact details below or e-mail labour@cso.ie

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Scan the QR code below to view this release online or go to
http://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/lr/liveregistermarch2021/

Contact:

Central Statistics Office
Skehard Road, Cork T12 X00E, Ireland

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

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