In 2024, Citizens Information Services nationwide assisted 395,017 callers — a small decline of 0.7% over 2023 levels — who raised 767,168 queries.

Although the query total is down slightly (3.5%) on 2023, queries are becoming more complex, with nearly a 10% increase in calls lasting 21–40 minutes and an almost 2% increase in calls lasting 11–20 minutes.

The average number of callers per month was 32,918, slightly down from 33,134 in 2023. January had the highest number of callers (38,151) and quarter one was the busiest quarter with 106,122 callers (26.8% of the full year's callers).

Country of Origin was recorded for 62.3% of callers (246,218). Of these, callers from Ireland accounted for 75% of the total (183,526), while for 25% of callers their country of origin was outside Ireland (62,692 callers).

The number of non-EU callers increased by 13% to 42,145, while the number of EU callers (excluding Ireland) decreased by 5.8% to 20,547.

There were 767,168 queries to CISs in 2024. Most came under Social Welfare, Housing, Health, Money and Tax, or Employment. ‘Local’ is a generic signposting category and is excluded from the ‘top five’ analysis.

Social Welfare Queries

Social Welfare was the largest category (346,054), representing 45.1% of all 2024 queries — a 7% decrease on 2023. Proportionately the decrease was 1.7% (Social Welfare made up 46.8% of 2023 queries):

• Extra Social Welfare Benefits (ESWB) remained the most queried sub-category with 53,456 queries (16% of all Social Welfare queries), including 21,131 about the Fuel Allowance, 16,337 on the Household Benefits Package and almost 7,000 about Free Travel.
• Disability & Illness payment queries were next (53,159), including 26,216 Disability Allowance, 12,888 Illness Benefit and 10,304 Invalidity Pension queries.
• Older and Retired People was third (48,031), of which 26,385 concerned the Contributory State Pension and 11,570 the Non-Contributory State Pension.
• Carer's Payments and Schemes accounted for 37,101 queries, including 22,466 Carer's Allowance, 4,316 Carer's Benefit and 4,230 Domiciliary Care Allowance queries.

Housing Queries

Housing was the second highest category with 85,148 queries (11% of all queries), a similar level to 2023. Over 50% (43,078) related to Local Authority and Social Housing, the next most queried being Housing Grants and Schemes (13,809).

• Applying for Local Authority/Social Housing increased by 2.5% (21,642).
• Housing Assistance Payment queries decreased by 8.7% (10,316).
• Renting a Home queries decreased by 15.5% to 10,255, while Home Energy Grants (SEAI) rose 23.2% (to 6,725).
• Homelessness queries increased by 10.8% (to 3,561) and Buying/Owning a Home queries by 11.5% (2,589).

Health Queries

While most categories fell versus 2023, Health queries increased by 6.8% to 62,496. Medical Card (and GP Visit Card) queries accounted for 67% of these.

Other Queries

Information staff logged 44,702 Money and Tax queries (down 7.1%): Income Tax Credits and Reliefs fell 13.7%, Income Tax fell 2.3% and Revenue Online fell 6.4%.

Employment queries stood at 44,326 (down 6.3%): Employment Rights and Conditions fell 9.8%, Contracts of Employment fell 11.4% and Leave and Holidays fell 28.9%, while Self-employment rose 8.6% to 3,721.

There were almost 37,000 Moving Country queries: IRP applications and renewals rose 23.5%, Visas rose 5.9%, and Asylum Seekers and Refugees rose 62.3% to 1,771, while Irish Citizenship fell 18.2% (11,810).

Travel and Recreation queries fell 1.4% to 19,534 and Justice queries fell 6.8% to 18,705. Birth, Family and Relationships queries fell 9.6% (over 16,000), while Education and Training (13,802) and Consumer Affairs (10,717) both eased.

Government in Ireland queries rose 25.1% to 6,113, boosted by the General Election and the Referendums on Family and Care. Death and Bereavement (5,657) and Environment (1,477) queries both edged up.

Of all queries received in 2024, over one quarter (28.2%) related to ten specific entitlements — enquiries about the Medical Card again came top.

With close to 800,000 queries in 2024, CISs continue to play an essential support role in Ireland, with Social Welfare still the largest category.

Compared with 2023, the data highlights emerging trends: more people presenting with additional support needs (language most common), more callers from outside the EU, and longer time spent per case — all pointing to increased complexity.

Click below for a more detailed profiling of CIS queries in 2024.
Query Categories 2024 (Word document)
Query Categories 2024 (PDF)