Citizens Information Services (CISs) National Statistics 2022
Overview
394,400 callers were assisted by the Citizens Information Services in 2022 — an increase of 16.7% on 2021 — who raised over 788,900 queries, an increase of 13.7% on 2021 query levels.
The average number of callers a month for 2022 was 32,867, up from the average of 28,181 in 2021. September had the highest number of callers (40,650), similar to the previous year.
View the data for Chart 1 (callers per month, 2021 and 2022)
| Month | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| January | 25,510 | 30,297 |
| February | 25,913 | 32,741 |
| March | 26,802 | 32,188 |
| April | 25,717 | 29,608 |
| May | 27,234 | 34,255 |
| June | 30,420 | 32,847 |
| July | 31,737 | 31,719 |
| August | 29,975 | 35,189 |
| September | 34,589 | 40,650 |
| October | 32,511 | 38,844 |
| November | 31,162 | 36,338 |
| December | 16,597 | 19,724 |
Mode of Contact
In 2022, over half of callers contacted CISs by telephone (215,638 callers). In-person contact was four times that of 2021 as face-to-face services resumed. Of the personal callers, 89% were drop-in and 11% were appointments.
Gender
Where gender was recorded, 61% of callers were female (238,877), 36% were male (140,422) and 3% were couples (12,981). This is similar to previous years; females continue to account for nearly two-thirds of callers, while couples increased from 1% in 2021 to 3% in 2022.
Age
Age was recorded for 66% of callers in 2022. The 26-45 age category remains the largest proportion of callers. The 66 and over category rose from 13% of total callers in 2021 to 18% in 2022, reflecting a return in demand from this group post-pandemic. The 25 and under category remains the smallest, at 3%.
Specific Needs
13.8% (54,659 callers) to CISs in 2022 had specific needs identified by information providers. Almost half related to language, an increase of over 80% on 2021, reflecting demand from Ukrainian service users. There were 7,435 callers with IT access and digital literacy problems — a third of them aged 66 and over.
Nationality / Country of Origin
The number of callers from outside the EU increased to 13.4%, up from 8.8% (17,952) in 2021. The war in Ukraine accounts for the increased number of non-EU callers to CISs in 2022.
Country of Origin was recorded for 63% of callers (247,520) in 2022. 21% of these callers (52,316) had countries of origin outside Ireland. Callers from Ireland accounted for 79% of all callers (195,204). Callers from Ukraine (8,346) and Poland (8,158) were the next highest. In all, callers came from 189 different countries.
View the data for Map 1 (callers by country of origin, 2022)
| Country | Callers |
|---|---|
| Ukraine | 8,346 |
| Poland | 8,158 |
| Nigeria | 4,316 |
| United Kingdom | 4,274 |
| Romania | 3,089 |
| Lithuania | 1,428 |
| Pakistan | 1,274 |
| India | 1,230 |
| Afghanistan | 1,152 |
| Latvia | 1,129 |
| Bangladesh | 1,076 |
| Brazil | 1,046 |
| China | 860 |
| Slovakia | 792 |
| Spain | 757 |
| Syria | 757 |
| Italy | 690 |
| Moldova | 622 |
| South Africa | 619 |
| Philippines | 563 |
| United States of America | 553 |
| Somalia | 542 |
| Croatia | 511 |
| Portugal | 462 |
| Germany | 448 |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | 447 |
| Algeria | 382 |
| France | 316 |
| Albania | 308 |
| Iraq | 294 |
| Bulgaria | 281 |
| Czech Republic | 268 |
| Hungary | 245 |
| Sudan | 241 |
| Russian Federation | 211 |
| Ghana | 191 |
| Iran | 189 |
| Egypt | 182 |
| Georgia | 176 |
| Zimbabwe | 164 |
| Turkey | 132 |
| Netherlands | 128 |
| Morocco | 126 |
| Malaysia | 125 |
| Mauritius | 111 |
| Thailand | 108 |
| Greece | 107 |
| Cameroon | 106 |
| Sweden | 103 |
| Australia | 101 |
| Canada | 99 |
| Angola | 89 |
| Republic of the Congo | 87 |
| Ethiopia | 86 |
| Libya | 79 |
| Estonia | 73 |
| Uganda | 70 |
| Mexico | 65 |
| Niger | 65 |
| Nepal | 55 |
| Malawi | 54 |
| Mongolia | 53 |
| Argentina | 51 |
| Belgium | 51 |
| Eritrea | 51 |
| Kenya | 51 |
| Venezuela | 51 |
| Kosovo | 50 |
| Bolivia | 49 |
| Palestine | 47 |
| Myanmar | 43 |
| Sri Lanka | 43 |
| Tunisia | 43 |
| Chile | 42 |
| Serbia | 36 |
| Switzerland | 33 |
| Armenia | 31 |
| Belarus | 31 |
| Lebanon | 31 |
| Sierra Leone | 30 |
| Jordan | 29 |
| Denmark | 28 |
| Botswana | 27 |
| Cuba | 27 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 26 |
| Ivory Coast | 26 |
| Japan | 26 |
| Indonesia | 24 |
| Taiwan | 24 |
| Togo | 24 |
| Vietnam | 23 |
| Benin | 22 |
| Malta | 21 |
| Colombia | 19 |
| Guinea | 19 |
| Hong Kong | 19 |
| Gambia | 17 |
| Saudi Arabia | 17 |
| Peru | 16 |
| Senegal | 16 |
| Austria | 15 |
| Kazakhstan | 15 |
| Liberia | 15 |
| New Zealand | 15 |
| Slovenia | 15 |
| Burundi | 14 |
| Israel | 14 |
| Tanzania | 14 |
| Cambodia | 13 |
| Central African Republic | 13 |
| El Salvador | 13 |
| Rwanda | 13 |
| Uzbekistan | 13 |
| Dominican Republic | 12 |
| Saint Helena | 12 |
| Korea (south) | 11 |
| Norway | 11 |
| United Arab Emirates | 11 |
| Zambia | 11 |
| Iceland | 10 |
| South Sudan | 10 |
| Bahrain | 9 |
| Chad | 9 |
| Jamaica | 9 |
| East Timor | 8 |
| Laos | 8 |
| Namibia | 8 |
| Singapore | 8 |
| Honduras | 7 |
| Finland | 6 |
| Guatemala | 6 |
| Uruguay | 6 |
| Azerbaijan | 5 |
| Comoros | 5 |
| Gabon | 5 |
| Kuwait | 5 |
| Luxembourg | 5 |
| Swaziland | 5 |
| American Samoa | 4 |
| Andorra | 4 |
| Haiti | 4 |
| Korea (north) | 4 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 4 |
| Liechtenstein | 4 |
| Monaco | 4 |
| Netherland Antilles | 4 |
| Antigua and Barbuda | 3 |
| Barbados | 3 |
| Bhutan | 3 |
| Cocos (Keeling) Islands | 3 |
| Ecuador | 3 |
| French Guiana | 3 |
| Macau | 3 |
| Nicaragua | 3 |
| Oman | 3 |
| Panama | 3 |
| Yemen | 3 |
| Bahamas | 2 |
| Cayman Islands | 2 |
| Costa Rica | 2 |
| Fiji | 2 |
| Lesotho | 2 |
| Mali | 2 |
| Mozambique | 2 |
| Puerto Rico | 2 |
| Republic of Cyprus | 2 |
| Tonga | 2 |
| Anguila | 1 |
| Antarctica | 1 |
| Aruba | 1 |
| Belize | 1 |
| Bermuda | 1 |
| Bouvet Island | 1 |
| Cape Verde | 1 |
| Greenland | 1 |
| Guinea-Bissau | 1 |
| Guyana | 1 |
| Kiribati | 1 |
| Madagascar | 1 |
| Maldives | 1 |
| Mauritania | 1 |
| Mayotte | 1 |
| Montenegro | 1 |
| North Macedonia | 1 |
| Papua New Guinea | 1 |
| Samoa | 1 |
| Seychelles | 1 |
| Tajikistan | 1 |
| Western Sahara | 1 |
Query Categories
788,902 queries came from the public in 2022 — an increase of 13.7% on 2021. When the public contact CISs they often have more than one query; there was a ratio of 2.00 queries per caller in 2022, down from 2.05 in 2021.
Using a mouse or touch, you can click a box to enlarge it (right click, or press and hold on mobile, to minimise). The full figures for every category are also in the data table below the chart.
View the data for Chart 8 (queries by category, 2022)
| Query category | Queries | Share of all queries |
|---|---|---|
| Social Welfare | 371,736 | 47.1% |
| Housing | 75,414 | 9.6% |
| Health | 57,059 | 7.2% |
| Employment | 49,667 | 6.3% |
| Local | 47,690 | 6.0% |
| Moving Country | 41,824 | 5.3% |
| Money and Tax | 41,561 | 5.3% |
| Travel and Recreation | 22,462 | 2.8% |
| Birth, Family and Relationships | 18,701 | 2.4% |
| Justice | 18,313 | 2.3% |
| Education and Training | 13,417 | 1.7% |
| Consumer Affairs | 12,134 | 1.5% |
| Covid-19 | 7,467 | 0.9% |
| Death and Bereavement | 5,422 | 0.7% |
| Government in Ireland | 4,566 | 0.6% |
| Environment | 1,469 | 0.2% |
Query Trends
Social Welfare Queries
Social Welfare queries rose overall by 23.6% in 2022. Extra Social Welfare Benefits increased by 87% on 2021, and Fuel Allowance queries increased by 47% to almost 33,000.
Household Benefits Package (free electricity, gas) queries rose 57% from 12,375 in 2021 to 19,444 in 2022. Supplementary Welfare Scheme queries — the ‘safety net’ supports — rose 59.6%, with Additional Needs Payments enquiries doubling amid cost-of-living concerns.
Queries relating to Disability and Illness rose 13%: Disability Allowance up 17% (24,741) and Invalidity Pension up 18% (11,373). Queries related to Carer's payments rose 18% (Carer's Allowance up 14.7% to 25,241). Family and Children — Child Benefit queries rose 37.8% and Working Family Payment 10%.
Housing Queries
Housing queries rose by 22.5% to over 75,000. Queries about Local Authority and Social Housing represented over half of housing queries and grew 15.5%. Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) queries remained high at 11,552 (29.4% of Local Authority queries).
Renting a Home queries rose 16.8%, and Notice/Eviction/Disputes rose 28.6% — highlighting the ongoing impact of the housing crisis. Housing Grants and Schemes rose 34.6% (8,549 to 11,507), and Homelessness queries rose from 2,055 to 3,157.
Health Queries
The number of queries regarding Medical Cards grew 43% from 2021 to 2022 (36,438 queries).
Other Queries
Employment related queries fell 16.3% in 2022, with Leave and Holidays down 39.1% and Contracts of Employment down 21.5%.
Queries relating to Moving Country grew by 73.5%, driven by Ukrainian refugees — services assisted over 8,000 Ukrainians with social welfare, healthcare eligibility and accommodation needs.
Top 10 Entitlements in 2022
29% of all queries in 2022 were related to the Top 10 entitlements.
Further Statistical Data
Quarterly reports for 2022 can be accessed on the CIS Data Hub.
The document below contains the five highest query categories — Social Welfare, Housing, Health, Employment and Moving Country — and shows the number of queries relating to the various schemes, payments and entitlements in each sub-category in 2022.
Query Categories 2022 (Word document)
Query Categories 2022 (PDF)