This release is categorised as a CSO Frontier Series output and is the first in a series of annual releases based on a new methodology developed by the CSO that allows for an analysis of demographics, economic activity, and social welfare activity for people seeking International Protection who are beneficiaries of the Daily Expense Allowance for the years 2016 to 2024.
The Daily Expense Allowance is a social welfare benefit which is only available to International Protection applicants, however not all people seeking International Protection benefit from the Daily Expense Allowance. For more information on the methodology, including the definition of employment activity, see the Editor's Note or the Frequently Asked Questions.
As a CSO Frontier Series release, this release may use methods under development and/or data sources which may be incomplete, for example new administrative data sources. Particular care must be taken when interpreting the statistics in this experimental analysis.
For beneficiaries of the Daily Expense Allowance (DEA) who comprise a significant subset of people seeking International Protection:
The number of beneficiaries of the DEA increased in 2022, surpassing 10,000 people, and stood at more than 17,000 people in 2024.
In 2024, almost half of the beneficiaries (48%) of the DEA were aged 25-44 years old and almost a quarter (23%) were aged under 15 years.
There were over 1,000 new beneficiaries from each of Nigeria, Jordan, Somalia, and Pakistan in 2024.
For new beneficiaries of the DEA in 2022, 77% had employment activity in 2024 (aged 15 and above in 2024).
More than 60% of the beneficiaries of the DEA were male in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
Age and sex had an impact on levels of employment activity with, higher percentages of men showing employment activity compared with women. Additionally, there were generally higher percentages of employment activity for both men and women aged 25-44 years.
The Insights on Applicants of International Protection Using Administrative Data release presents statistics compiled based on administrative data sources. The primary data source used was social welfare data from the Department of Social Protections database from the Business Object Model implementation (BOMi) and Integrated Short-Term Payments System (ISTS).
This release is based on a new methodology 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 only available to people seeking International Protection. When referring to beneficiaries, this covers all people who benefit from the DEA and not just the person who receives the payment, for example the claimant and their dependent children and/or spouse. As such, care must be taken when interpreting the statistics in this experimental analysis and the results should not be directly compared with other results.
Further information on the new methodology can be accessed in the Background Notes.
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 (14 August 2025) published Insights on Applicants of International Protection Using Administrative Data 2024.
Commenting on the release, Cathal Doherty, Statistician in the Population Estimates and Projections area, said: "This release, which is part of the CSO Frontier Series, is the first in a series of annual releases based on a new methodology developed by the CSO that uses administrative data to identify a subset of International Protection applicants over time.
The novel methodology utilises the Daily Expense Allowance (DEA), a social welfare benefit which is only available to International Protection applicants. Individuals that benefit from the DEA either live in or are on a waiting list to move to accommodation provided by the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS).
While not all people seeking International Protection benefit from the DEA, this release analyses available data on the beneficiaries of the social welfare payment. Demographics, economic activity, and social welfare activity for beneficiaries of the DEA for the years 2016 to 2024 are examined in this release. As this series develops, we aim to expand the analysis in terms of years and additional attributes around economic activity.
The statistics in this release will be valuable for users and will supplement the existing statistics available on applications and accommodation of people during the International Protection process. Extensive methodology is available in the Background Notes of this release.
Demographics
In recent years, there were increases in the number of new DEA beneficiaries with 11,750 people in 2022, 10,252 in 2023 and 17,250 people in 2024. The percentage share of women benefiting from the allowance was lower than men in all years from 2016 to 2024 and varied from 43% of the total beneficiaries in 2019 to 34% of the total beneficiaries in both 2022 and 2023.
In 2024, just over 8,300 people or 48%, benefiting from the DEA were aged 25-44 years old. The next largest group was the youngest cohort of 0-14 years old which made up 23% of the 2024 total, or just under 4,000 people.
When focusing on country of nationality, Nigeria, Jordan, Somalia, and Pakistan were the four countries that had more than 1,000 new people benefiting from the DEA in 2024. Other countries that had over 1,000 people benefiting from the DEA in previous years were Algeria in both 2022 and 2023, and Georgia in 2022.
Employment Activity
Looking at employment activity, it is important to bear in mind the rules around entrance to the labour market for those in the International Protection process. The waiting period for International Protection applicants to enter the labour market was reduced from nine months to six months in 2021. This time lag around the ability to enter the labour market is clearly evident throughout the results.
Employment activity is defined using Revenue payroll data and the level of activity can vary from having worked one week per year to working full-time, or part-time, throughout the year. For the purposes of this analysis, any employments earning less than €500 per annum and employments of less than two-week duration are excluded.
Our analysis showed there were large increases in employment activity percentages in the years after the first year of DEA commencement.
In 2024, the percentage of employment activity was 77% for new beneficiaries of the DEA from 2022 and almost 70% for beneficiaries from 2021 and 2023. Males had a higher percentage of employment activity of more than 75% for DEA start years of 2021, 2022 and 2023, with female percentages of employment activity varying from 53% to 65% over the same years.
When looking at employment activity in terms of age, the 25-44 age group had higher employment activity than older and younger beneficiaries of the DEA. For 2024, more than 70% of those aged 25-44 years who had commenced benefiting from the DEA in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 had employment activity."