International Protection Applicants: Demographic and Employment Insights 2022-2024

Introduction

This release produces results that are based on a data matching exercise between a number of datasets from existing CSO releases, namely:

Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources (EAADS)

Insights on Applicants of International Protection Using Administrative Data (IAIP)

The EAADS results are based on a data-matching exercise of three administrative data sources listed in the Data Sources section below.

For IAIP, the approach uses the Daily Expense Allowance, a social welfare benefit which only people seeking International Protection can receive. These Background Notes describe the data sources used in these initial releases, the methodologies for the initial releases and the definitions used in this current release.

Data Sources

Employee Tax Data (Revenue)

Revenue's employee tax data contains a complete register of all employments and is the most accurate source of remuneration. It provides details of gross annual earnings and number of weeks worked in the year for all employments. The weekly earnings are calculated by dividing the gross annual earnings, as declared to Revenue, by the number of weeks worked in the year for each employment. For years 2011-2018 the employee tax data used for the EAADS came from employer end of year returns, P35, submitted to Revenue. The P35 was an annual return that was completed by all registered employers after the tax year end, up to 2018. Since 01 January 2019, Revenue has operated real-time reporting of payroll; “PAYE Modernisation" (PMOD). Employers are required to report their employees’ pay and deductions in real-time to Revenue each time they operate payroll. Information is provided to Revenue at individual payslip level. EAADS analysis from 2019 onwards is based on the more detailed employee tax data provided by Revenue’s PMOD system.

Department of Social Protection (DSP)

The Central Records System of the Department of Social Protection provides information on age, nationality, gender and county of residence. Using a unique identifier (see 'Methodology' below) each employee on the employee tax data files can be linked to their individual demographic characteristics on the Department of Social Protection datasets. Therefore, the earnings dataset is enhanced by adding the demographic details.

Social welfare data from the Department of Social Protection's database from the Business Object Model implementation (BOMi) and Integrated Short-Term Payments System (ISTS) is also utilised to obtain information on the Daily Expense Allowance.

Central Statistics Office Business Register

Linking the unique enterprise number common to both the Revenue employee tax data files and the CSO’s Business Register allows enterprise level variables to be added to each individual employee. The economic sectors (NACE Rev.2) and the Public/Private sector classifications are harmonised to the Earnings, Hours and Employment Costs Survey (EHECS) and the Register of Public Sector Bodies.

Methodology - EAADS

The results presented in this release are based on a data-matching exercise of three administrative data sources

• Employee tax data from the Revenue Commissioners
• The Central Records System of the Department of Social Protection
• The Central Statistics Office’s Business Register

The linkage and analysis was undertaken by the CSO for statistical purposes in line with the Statistics Act, 1993 and the CSO Data Protocol.

Before using personal administrative data for statistical purposes, the CSO removes all identifying personal information including the Personal Public Service Number (PPSN). The PPSN is a unique number that enables individuals to access social welfare benefits, personal taxation and other public services in Ireland. The CSO converts the PPSN to a Protected Identifier Key (PIK). The PIK is a unique and non-identifiable number which is internal to the CSO. Using the PIK enables the CSO to link and analyse data for statistical purposes, while protecting the security and confidentiality of the individual data. The Revenue, DSP and CSO records were linked using the PIK for this project. All records in the datasets are anonymised and the results are in the form of statistical aggregates which do not identify any individuals.

The publication tables in this release are provided by NACE economic sector, gender, age, nationality and region (residence) and are available on PxStat (CSO Main Data Dissemination Service). Average weekly and annual earnings are provided and the information covers both the public and private sectors. 

The Revenue Commissioners also publish data based on the P35 file (up to 2018) on PxStat (CSO Main Data Dissemination Service). This includes mainly PAYE individuals but also includes non-PAYE income and records for married couples. The CSO analysis is for PAYE individuals only.

Exclusion of Employees from Earnings Data:

For the purposes of this analysis the CSO excluded employees earning less than €500 per annum and employments where the duration was less than two weeks in the year. Also, extremely high earnings values and missing employer and employee reference numbers. Employment activity in NACE sectors A, T and U has also been excluded from the analysis.

Methodology - IAIP

The IAIP report provided insights on beneficiaries of the Daily Expense Allowance, a significant subset of people seeking International Protection in Ireland. As noted, these persons are International Protections applicants who live/have lived in IPAS accommodation or are about to move into IPAS accommodation between 2016 and 2024. The methodology described below details how this group was determined.

Results presented are based on a data-matching exercise of three administrative data sources:

• The Central Records System of the Department of Social Protection (CRS).
• The Revenue Commissioners PAYE payroll database.
• Social welfare data from the Department of Social Protection's (DSP) database from the Business Object Model implementation (BOMi) and Integrated Short-Term Payments System (ISTS).

As with EAADS analysis, linkage and analysis was undertaken by the CSO for statistical purpose in line with the Statistics Act, 1993, and the CSO Data Protocol. This leads to a dataset where all records are anonymised and the results are in the form of statistical aggregates which means it is not possible to identify any individual s from the data published.

Definitions

Annual Earnings 

Annual earnings represent the total gross annual amount (before deduction of tax, PRSI and superannuation) payable by the enterprise to its employees. This information is obtained from employee tax data provided by the Revenue Commissioners. It includes bonuses and benefit in kind (BIK). It excludes pension payments and severance payments.  

Weekly Earnings

Weekly earnings are calculated by dividing the gross annual earnings by the number of weeks worked. 

Benefit in Kind 

Benefit in kind (BIK) is the notional income calculation of the value of all ‘payments in kind’, made to the employee during the year (for example, the private use of a company car, medical insurance payments paid by the company, company products at reduced prices, housing, etc.). BIK is included in the gross annual earnings of the employee submitted to the Revenue Commissioners by the employer. 

Economic Sector Classification (NACE Rev.2)

The economic sector classification (NACE) is aligned to the CSO’s Business Register. The economic sector classification used for the Business Register is based on the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community (NACE Rev.2). The NACE code of each enterprise included in the survey was determined from the predominant activity of the enterprise, based on information provided to the CSO.

Public Sector Data

Public sector data comprises employments in the Civil Service, Defence, An Garda Síochána, Education, Regional bodies, Health and Semi-State, both commercial and non-commercial.

Country of Nationality

Data on country of nationality is derived from information collected by DSP. Country of nationality is classified using country codes (ISO 3166) and presented as follows;