Social Welfare Statistics

The publication dates for 2025 for the main statistical reports produced by the Department of Social Protection are set out in the schedule below.

• Statistical Release Calendar 2025

Quality Statement

This document outlines the Department of Social Protection (DSP) commitment to quality, and the procedures in place to provide assurance on the quality of statistical outputs under the responsibility of DSP on the Register of Official Statistics.

Publication and Dissemination Statement

This document outlines the basic principles for the dissemination and revision of statistical outputs under the responsibility of the Department of Social Protection (DSP) on the Register of Official Statistics.

Statistical Work Programme

This document give details of the statistical reports that the Department of Social Protection publishes.

Access to Research Microdata Files

This document outlines the polices behind the re-use of data collected for analytical and policy-making purposes by the Department of Social Protection (DSP), and the procedures in place to ensuring that the integrity and confidentiality of customer microdata is maintained.

Since 1983, the annual Statistical Information on Social Welfare Services report has been published by the department, which outlines the statistical data behind the various social protection schemes such as expenditure, recipients and beneficiaries, insured persons, rates of payment and details of operational activity.

The figures in these reports, unless otherwise stated, refer to the 31st December of each year.

• 2023 Annual Statistics Report
• Archive of social protection annual statistical reports
• Annual Statistics Report tables 2023

The Quarterly Statistical Report provides summary quarterly information on Income and Expenditure, as well as total recipients of the main schemes administered by the Department of Social Protection. The report is published on a quarterly basis. Work is ongoing with the Central Statistics Office (CSO) to make the data in these reports available through the CSO’s Open Data Portal at data.cso.ie. In the interim, recipient data will be made available through data.gov.ie.

• Quarterly Statistical Reports for the department and MyWelfare available here

The department is committed to conducting a number of control surveys annually. These surveys estimate the level of suspected fraud and error at a point in time on the scheme surveyed.

• Control Surveys
• Control Survey Methodology

The PPS Number is the unique customer reference number for transactions between individuals and government departments and other public service providers.

Detailed Statistics on Personal Public Service Numbers Issued is available by:

• month and year of allocation
• age group
• nationality
• sex
• region

The Labour Market Analytics unit is responsible for producing labour market data, analysis and research based on the department’s administrative data. As part of this remit, it delivers counterfactual impact evaluations under the Government’s Pathways to Work (PtW) strategy.

• The Labour Market Analytics
• Evaluations and Customer Satisfaction Surveys

Statistics on applications received under the Redundancy Payments Scheme since 1995.

• Redundancy Payment Scheme Statistics

The outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis saw a number of emergency social protection measures introduced, such as the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) and an enhanced rate of Illness Benefit.

Weekly PUP and Enhanced Illness Benefit Recipient Statistics

• Weekly statistics on the number of recipients on these schemes (PUP and Enhanced Illness Benefit) are available here.

Pandemic Unemployment Payment in Numbers

This release outlines the statistical data behind the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) – operational activity, recipient numbers, number of payments and expenditure.

PUP Labour Market Transitions Analysis

The objective of this working paper is to highlight employment transitions (or movements) among former Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) recipients who have closed their claim and returned to work.

This analysis, which was conducted in November 2021 shows whether former PUP recipients returned to their former employer or changed employer (either within their former sector of employment or to a different sector).

The paper gives breakdowns and comparisons of those shown to have returned to work post-PUP and also considers their interaction with the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS).

This analysis, conducted in September 2021, examines everyone who received a PUP and later returned to work, indicating whether they:

• returned to their former employer, or
• changed employer (either within their former sector of employment or to a different sector of employment).