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Over one in five (22%) people aged 18 years or over said they felt discriminated against in the two years prior to interview, an increase of four percentage points from when the survey was last carried out (18%), in Quarter 1 2019.
The most common places to experience discrimination were in the workplace (7% of respondents), and retail and hospitality settings (both at 5%).
At an overall level, the highest rates of discrimination were reported by people whose sexual orientation was gay/lesbian (59%) or bisexual (55%).
Nearly half (46%) of people who identified as transgender/non-binary (their current gender does not correspond with the sex recorded at birth) had experienced discrimination of some form in the previous two years, double the prevalence amongst those who were cisgender (their current gender corresponds with sex recorded at birth) (23%).
Half (49%) of people of a Black Irish/Black African/other Black background had experienced discrimination of some form in the previous two years, compared with just one in five (19%) people whose ethnicity was White Irish. Members of the Irish Traveller/Roma community also experienced high levels of discrimination (42%).
The most common form of workplace discrimination was bullying or harassment, reported by over one-third (35%) of people.
By far the most common action taken in response to discrimination was verbal (16%), such as bringing the issues concerned to one's manager, a service provider, a support organisation, etc. Just 1% took legal action.
A new multi-modal data collection model was introduced for the 2024 Equality and Discrimination Survey. More details are available in the Background Notes. This new data collection model has led to improved response for the survey and has allowed the reporting of perceived discrimination for minority groups including on a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity and ethnic group/background. The achieved sample in the 2024 survey was 7,852 respondents compared with 3,971 when the survey was last carried out in 2019. It should be noted however that where sample sizes were low for some minority groups, care should be taken when interpreting the data.
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (16 June 2025) published the results of the Equality and Discrimination Survey which was carried out in Quarter 3, 2024.
Commenting on the release, Maureen Delamere, Statistician, said: "This survey looks at the experience of discrimination, as reported by the respondents to the survey, across various settings ranging from work-related discrimination, social settings such as pubs, restaurants, retail outlets, to education, health, and public services. The survey also looked at discrimination experienced by those who were in contact with An Garda Síochána.
Questions on gender identity and sexual orientation were also included. When we use the term cisgender in this release, it refers to a person whose current gender identity is the same as their sex recorded at birth. Transgender is used to describe a person whose gender identity does not correspond with the sex recorded for them at birth, while the term non-binary is used for those who do not identify as solely either a man or a woman.
Discrimination in the Workplace/While Looking for Work
Overall, the main grounds for discrimination in the workplace was one’s race (27%), followed by gender (24%), and then by socio-economic background in third place (21%).
Looking at the results in detail, discrimination while looking for work was most felt in the Irish Traveller/Roma community. Almost one in six (16%) said they had experienced such discrimination in the previous two years, compared with just 3% of White Irish people. One in nine (12%) respondents of Black Irish/Black African/other Black background said they were discriminated in this way.
Analysis by sexual orientation and gender identity also showed that non-heterosexual and non-cisgender people experienced discrimination most when looking for work. One in nine (12%) gay or lesbian people compared with just 4% of heterosexuals, and twice as many transgender/non-binary people (8%) as cisgender people (4%) were discriminated against while looking for work.
The trends were similar for discrimination in the workplace. Transgender/non-binary people (22%) were three times more likely than cisgender people (7%) to experience discrimination in the workplace. Similarly, it was 22% for gay or lesbian people compared with 7% of heterosexual or straight people.
Discrimination in Social Settings (Shops, Pubs, Restaurants, and Other Retail Outlets)
At an overall level, the most common social settings for discrimination were retail and hospitality, with one in twenty citing such discrimination. Looking at the perceived grounds for discrimination in social settings such as retail, hospitality, and leisure/local amenities, age was a very significant factor at 15%, although the most significant ground cited by far was race at 33%.
Looking at race, respondents from a Black Irish/Black African/other Black background experienced high levels of discrimination in social settings. More than one in four (26%) experienced discrimination in retail settings such as shops/shopping centre/retail outlet, compared with 14% of respondents from an Asian Irish/Asian Indian/Chinese/other Asian background. Some 15% of people in the Irish Traveller/Roma minority groupings cited discrimination in retail settings, compared with 3% of people whose ethnicity was White Irish. Similarly, some 15% of Irish Travellers/Roma said they were discriminated against in hospitality settings such as pubs, bars (including hotel bars), night clubs, restaurants, etc., compared with 4% of people of White Irish ethnicity.
Analysis by sexual orientation showed that by far the greatest prevalence of discrimination in social settings such as gyms, leisure centres, public swimming pools, or parks was 15% for gay or lesbian people, compared with 2% of straight or heterosexual people.
Discrimination in Dealings with Financial Institutions
Age, at 38%, was by far the most significant ground cited for discrimination experienced in the previous two years when dealing with financial institutions. The next most common ground for discrimination cited was socio-economic background/social status such as your address, accent, level of education, type of housing, employment status or any other similar circumstance etc. at 24%, followed by race (includes colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins) at 18%.
Discrimination in Looking for/Sustaining Housing/Accommodation
Analysis by ethnicity shows that people of Black Irish/Black African/other Black background experienced most discrimination when looking for housing or accommodation (13%) while one in nine (12%) said they had been discriminated against while sustaining secure housing or accommodation. Almost one in ten (9%) Irish Travellers/Roma had been discriminated against when they were looking for housing/accommodation, while 12% had experienced discrimination in sustaining secure housing or accommodation in the previous two years. This compared with 2% of people who described themselves as White Irish who reported this type of discrimination.
Discrimination in Health Services
Looking at respondents’ experience of discrimination in their access to/use of health services, socio-economic background such as a person’s address, accent, level of education, type of housing, employment status or any other similar circumstance etc. was cited as the most common ground for discrimination in health services (20%). This was followed by other grounds such as gender (gender identity, gender expression, sex characteristics, etc.), age, and disability, all at 18%.
Discrimination in Accessing/Using Transport Services
Disability was the top ground for discrimination cited in access to/use of transport services at 33%, more than twice the prevalence for age and socio-economic background such as their address, accent, level of education, type of housing, employment status or any other similar circumstance etc., which were both at 16%.
Discrimination in Contact with An Garda Síochána
Some 3% of respondents said they had experienced discrimination in the previous two years in their contact with An Garda Síochána. By far the most common setting for such discrimination was the respondent being stopped in a vehicle by An Garda Síochána (36%), followed by when reporting a crime (30%). For 6% of respondents who had experienced discrimination with An Garda Síochána, they said it had happened frequently, while some 48% said that it had happened on a few occasions.
Socio-economic background, such as address, accent, level of education, employment status, type of housing, etc., was the most common ground for perceived discrimination by An Garda Síochána (30%) followed closely by race (such as one’s colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins) at 29%.
Knowledge of Rights
It is interesting to note that nearly one in five (18%) people who experienced discrimination had a good knowledge of their rights. By far the most common action taken in response to discrimination was verbal (16%), including bringing the issues concerned to one's manager, a service provider or a support organisation. Just 1% took legal action.”