This chapter provides statistics on distance to Transport Services by General Health status and Long-lasting Condition or Difficulty by mean, median, 25th and 75th percentile at State, County, Administrative County, CSO Local Electoral Area, NUTS-3 Region, Type of Urban and Rural Area, and HSE Health Regions (and nested HSE geographies). Type of Condition are presented by Administrative County, Type of Urban or Rural Area, HSE Integrated Healthcare Area and HSE Health Region. More information on the statistics available and geographic breakdowns are available in the Background Notes. All statistics in this chapter refer to individuals rather than households, as health is a personal characteristic.
For a detailed breakdown of the population by health status and Long-lasting Condition or Difficulty, see Census of Population 2022 Profile 4 - Disability, Health and Carers - Central Statistics Office. The population size varied considerably across General Health categories - in Census 2022, 53% of individuals rated their health as 'Very good', while the 'Bad' and 'Very bad' categories accounted for 1.4% and 0.3% of the population, respectively. Where findings are reported for these smaller categories, the median distances presented reflect the geographic distribution of a relatively small number of individuals and should be interpreted accordingly. Cases where General Health status was not stated are included in overall totals but are not discussed separately in this chapter.
In Census 2022, respondents rated their General Health on a five-point scale from 'Very good' to 'Very bad'. This section examines how distance to Transport Services vary by Health status across different geographic levels.
Nationally, individuals reporting 'Very bad' health generally lived closer to their nearest service than those reporting 'Very good' health. The largest differences were observed for 'Rail Stops' (median distance of 5.1 km compared with 6.2 km) and 'High Frequency Rail Stops' (5.5 km compared with 6.4 km). For all other services, including 'All Public Transport Stops', 'Bus Stops', 'Fuel Stations', 'All High Frequency Stops' and 'High Frequency Bus Stops', differences were much smaller, ranging from 0.1 km to 0.3 km.
Differences in median distance to public transport services by General Health status were generally modest across Administrative Counties, although larger differences were observed for rail services than for bus services. For ‘High Frequency Bus Stops’ (stops served 10 or more times between 6 am and 8 pm on a midweek day), the largest differences were in Tipperary and Monaghan. Individuals in these Administrative Counties reporting 'Very good' health had median distances of almost 5.0 km, compared with less than 2.0 km among those reporting 'Bad' health.
For rail services, the largest differences by General Health status were observed in Waterford, where individuals reporting 'Very good' health had a median distance of 13.2 km to ‘Rail Stops’ and 14.4 km to ‘High Frequency Rail Stops’, compared with 6.9 km and 7.5 km respectively among those reporting 'Bad' health. Similar, though less pronounced, patterns were observed in Westmeath, Limerick, Tipperary and Carlow, where individuals reporting 'Very good' health also tended to live further from rail services than those reporting 'Bad' health. In contrast, Meath showed a reversal of the general pattern, with individuals with ‘Bad’ General Health (17.9 km) having higher median distances to rail services than those reporting 'Very good' health (15.5 km).
Differences in median distance to ‘Fuel Stations’ by General Health status were generally small across Administrative Counties, suggesting that accessibility to the retail of motor fuel varied little by reported health status compared with public transport services.
Amongst LEA’s, Castleisland in Kerry and Athlone in Roscommon had the highest median distance to ‘Bus Stops’ amongst individuals who rated their General Health as ‘Very bad’ (5.0 km and 4.6 km respectively).
The largest difference in median distance to ‘Rail Stops’ between individuals reporting 'Very bad' and 'Very good' health was observed in Conamara South, Galway. Individuals reporting 'Very bad' health had a median distance of 29.6 km to ‘Rail Stops’, compared with 18.0 km among those reporting 'Very good' health. In contrast, in Tramore-Waterford City West, individuals reporting 'Very bad' health had a shorter median distance to 'Rail Stops' than those reporting 'Very good' health (3.4 km versus 13.4 km).
In Baileborough-Cootehill in Cavan, individuals reporting 'Very bad' (11.6 km) General Health had a higher median distance to ‘High Frequency Bus Stops’ than those reporting 'Very good' health (8.6 km). However, the opposite pattern was observed in Cashel-Tipperary, where individuals reporting 'Very bad' health had a lower median distance (1.4 km) to ‘High Frequency Bus Stops’ than those reporting 'Very good' health (5.1 km).
The largest discrepancy in median distance to ‘Fuel Stations’ between individuals with ‘Very bad’ and ‘Very good’ General Health was in Carrick-on-Shannon in Leitrim (9.1 km vs. 5.3 km).
In Census 2022, respondents were asked whether they experienced any Long-lasting Condition or Difficulty and to what extent it affected them. See Census of Population 2022 Profile 4 - Disability, Health and Carers and Background Notes for more information.
Consistent with the General Health status findings, individuals experiencing a Long-lasting Condition or Difficulty lived closer to public transport stops than those reporting ‘No Long-lasting Condition or Difficulty’, although the differences were small. At State level, the median distance to ‘Bus Stops’ was 0.6 km for those reporting ‘No Long-lasting Condition or Difficulty Experienced’, compared with 0.5 km for those experiencing a Long-lasting Condition or Difficulty to ‘Any Extent’, ‘Some extent’ and ‘Great Extent’. For ‘High Frequency Bus Stops’, the corresponding distances were 0.8 km for those with ‘No Long-lasting Condition or Difficulty Experienced’ and 0.7 km for those with a Long-lasting Condition or Difficulty to 'Any extent’. The difference was slightly greater for 'Rail Stops', the median distance was 6.2 km for those reporting ‘No Long-lasting Condition or Difficulty Experienced’, compared with 5.5 km for those experiencing a Long-lasting Condition or Difficulty to 'Any extent'. This pattern mirrors the Health Services release finding that those with long-lasting conditions or difficulties tended to live closer to services.
The largest differences between Long-lasting Condition or Difficulty categories at Administrative County level were observed in Carlow, where the median distance to ‘Bus Stops’ was 1.1 km for those reporting ‘No Long-lasting Condition or Difficulty Experienced’, compared with 0.7 km for those experiencing a condition to a ‘Great Extent’. Similar patterns were observed in Monaghan (1.8 km versus 1.3 km), Tipperary (1.4 km versus 0.9 km) and Kerry (1.7 km versus 1.2 km). In Administrative Counties with dense bus networks, including Dublin City, Dún Laoghaire Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin, virtually no difference was observed across Long-lasting Condition or Difficulty categories.
The differences by Long-lasting Condition or Difficulty were more pronounced for ‘High Frequency Bus Stops’ than for all ‘Bus Stops’. In Carlow, the median distance to ‘High Frequency Bus Stops’ was 4.6 km for those reporting ‘No Long-lasting Condition or Difficulty Experienced’, compared with 2.4 km for those experiencing a condition to a ‘Great extent’. In Tipperary, the corresponding distances were 4.8 km and 2.8 km, and in Kerry 3.8 km and 2.8 km. In Monaghan, individuals reporting ‘No Long-lasting Condition or Difficulty Experienced’ had a median distance of 4.6 km to ‘High Frequency Bus Stops’, compared with 3.6 km for those experiencing a condition to a ‘Great extent’.
The differences in median distance by Long-lasting Condition or Difficulty for ‘Rail Stops’ was most pronounced in Limerick City & County, where the median distance was 8.9 km for those reporting ‘No Long-lasting Condition or Difficulty Experienced’, compared with 5.6 km for those experiencing a condition to a ‘Great extent’, a difference of 3.3 km. In Waterford City & County, the corresponding distances were 13.1 km and 10.7 km. In Carlow, individuals reporting ‘No Long-lasting Condition or Difficulty Experienced’ had a median distance of 6.8 km to Rail Stops compared with 3.7 km for those experiencing a condition to a ‘Great Extent’, a difference of 3.1 km. The pattern for ‘High Frequency Rail Stops’ was broadly similar to ‘Rail Stops’. Limerick City & County again showed the most pronounced difference, with a median distance of 10.4 km for those reporting ‘No Long-lasting Condition or Difficulty Experienced’, compared with 6.4 km for those experiencing a condition to a ‘Great Extent’.
Distances to transport services were primarily determined by location rather than Type of Condition or Difficulty. Where differences were observed, those with a 'Psychological or emotional condition or a mental health issue' consistently had the shortest median distances across all service types and Administrative County, while those experiencing ‘Deafness or hearing impairment' and 'Difficulty dressing, bathing or getting around inside the home' consistently had the longest.
The most pronounced differences by Type of Condition or Difficulty were in Waterford City and County, where the median distance to 'High Frequency Rail Stops' was 14.1 km for those experiencing 'Deafness or hearing impairment' compared with 7.7 km for those with a 'Psychological or emotional condition or a mental health issue', and in Kilkenny, where the median 'High Frequency Bus Stops' distance was 4.3 km and 1.5 km respectively.
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