CSO, 13 February 2026, 11am
This release, which is part of the CSO Frontier Series, presents statistics compiled from administrative data sources and provides insights on employment factors for International Protection Applicants who are beneficiaries of the Daily Expense Allowance (DEA). This release is the second in a series and follows from the Insights on Applicants of International Protection Using Administrative Data that was published in August 2025. This release is based on work between the Labour Market and Earnings Analysis and the Life Events and Demography sections of the CSO. The results are based on data linkage between two existing CSO releases, namely Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources (EAADS) and Insights on Applicants of International Protection Using Administrative Data (IAIP).
A CSO Frontier Series output may use new methods which are under development and/or data sources which may be incomplete, for example new administrative data sources. This means particular care must be taken when interpreting the statistics in this experimental analysis.
International Protection is the protection granted by a government to someone who has left another country to escape being harmed. A person can apply for International Protection in Ireland and be granted residency under International Protection if they arrived in Ireland to escape persecution in their own country or if they cannot return to their country because of a well-founded fear for their safety.
While people are waiting for their decision on International Protection the government is legally obliged by EU and International law to provide them with basic supports.
The International Protection Office (IPO) manage applications for International Protection in Ireland. The IPO is an office within the Immigration Service Delivery Division of the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration.
The International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) is responsible for the provision of accommodation for people in the International Protection process. IPAS is a division of the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration.
The Daily Expense Allowance (DEA) is a means tested weekly payment only payable to applicants for International Protection who live in, or are on a waiting list to move into, accommodation provided by IPAS. It should be noted that not all people seeking International Protection are beneficiaries of the DEA.
Beneficiaries are all people who benefit from the DEA and not just the person who receives the payment, for example, dependent children and spouses are beneficiaries.
Beneficiaries of the DEA can access the Irish labour market after six months, reduced from nine months in 2021. In 2024, an income assessment was introduced for those in receipt of the DEA by the Department of Social Protection. Income testing takes place and the DEA payment is reduced or stopped to take account of income derived from employment, self-employment, or social welfare.
This is for DEA recipients aged 18 years of over who have received an income for 12 weeks or more. Further information can be viewed in the following link from the Department of Social Protection - https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-social-protection/services/daily-expenses-allowance/#income-assessment
Results presented in the Insights on Applicants of International Protection Using Administrative Data release are based on a data-matching exercise of three administrative data sources:
This release provides insights into a particular subset of those seeking International Protection as it only relates to the beneficiaries of the DEA. As noted, these people are International Protection applicants who live/have lived in IPAS accommodation or are about to move into IPAS accommodation between 2016 and 2024.
This release does not capture any information on beneficiaries of Temporary Protection from Ukraine. Information on these beneficiaries can be found in the CSO’s Arrivals from Ukraine in Ireland Series.
The Population and Migration Estimates are published each August and reference the population of Ireland in April of the reference year. Migration flows in the 12 months to the end of April are published as part of this release. The table below shows the trends in migration over the past five years.
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Immigration | 74,100 | 107,800 | 141,600 | 149,200 | 125,300 |
| Emigration | 52,300 | 56,100 | 64,000 | 69,900 | 65,600 |
| Net Migration | 21,800 | 51,700 | 77,600 | 79,300 | 59,700 |
In the year to April 2025, net migration dropped by just under a quarter, from 79,300 people to 59,700 people. this was mainly driven by a 16% drop in the number of immigrants, falling from 149,200 people in 2024 to 125,300 people in the 12 months to April 2025.
This release is based on a new methodology (as detailed below) that differs from that used by Government departments and agencies. For instance, other data released may focus on the number of applications received for International Protection whereas this release focuses on the number of beneficiaries of a payment, the DEA, only available to International Protection applicants. As such, care must be taken when interpreting the statistics in this experimental analysis and it should not be directly compared to other datasets.
The Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources release is an annual official statistic published by the CSO since 2023. The results presented in EAADS are based on a data-matching exercise of three administrative data sources:
It should be noted that in the EAADS analysis, the CSO excluded employees earnings less than €500 per annum and employments where the duration was less than two weeks in the year. Also excluded were secondary employments earning less than €4,000 per annum, extremely high earnings values, and missing employer and employee reference numbers. Employment activity in NACE sectors A, T and U were also excluded from the EAADS analysis. Information on self-employed individuals was also not included.
Also, in EAADS, the data used was restricted to employments that were active in the month of October. This is in line with Eurostat requirements relating to Structure of Earnings Statistics (in particular Council Regulation (EC) No 530/1999).
Yes, the EAADS release has some information on employments by nationality. However, more extensive information is available in the Distribution of Earnings by Nationality release which is published by the Labour Market and Earnings Analysis Division of the CSO. This is a release that explores the composition of Ireland's labour market and earnings by nationality from the EAADS dataset.
The statistics in this release are based on a data matching exercise between the EAADS and IAIP data sets. The results focus on the employment outcomes in 2022, 2023 and 2024 for the group of International Protection Applicants who are/were beneficiaries of the DEA from 2021 to 2024. For the purpose of this analysis, being a past or current beneficiary of the DEA allows for the identification of progression of this group into employment and their associated earnings. Factors such as economic sector, sex, age, country of nationality, earnings associated with their employment and changes in earnings over time are explored.
It is important to note that this release does not apply the October restriction where only employments active in October are included so estimates may differ from the original EAADS release.
Linkage and analysis for EAADS, IAIP, and this release was undertaken by the CSO for statistical purposes in line with the Statistics Act, 1993 and the CSO Data Matching Policy. For more information on the CSO’s use of Administrative Data sources and its focus on data confidentiality and privacy, you can find out more in our Trust and Transparency section.
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.