Citizens Information Services (CISs) National Statistics
Statistical Highlights 2021
338,167 callers assisted by Citizens Information Services with nearly 700,000 queries during 2021.
4/5 of the people that contacted services did so by telephone.
11% of overall contacts began with the web-based Call Back Service.
CIS Callers
Age Profile
26-45 age bracket had the highest number of callers.
Specific Needs
10% of callers had specific needs, with more than half relating to language. People coming to CISs with specific access needs often had higher numbers of queries than the general caller population.
Nationality
17% of callers, where county of origin was recorded, were from other EU or non-EU countries.
Query Categories
Almost 700,000 queries came from the public in 2021.
Callers to CISs often have more than one query, with 2.05 queries per caller recorded in 2021, up from 1.97 in 2020.
What information did people look for?
300,644, or 43% of queries were about Social Welfare, with the highest number of queries relating to Carer’s Allowance (22,000).
61,577 queries were Housing related, with the highest number of queries about Local Authority and Social Housing (34,000+ queries).
Many people coming to CISs had queries about Covid-19 pandemic supports, with the main query area relating to the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (12,574 queries).
Trends
59,000 queries were employment related. Employment rights and entitlements were high prior to the pandemic and remained high throughout 2021. Of the 59,000+ queries received, 25% were concerned with Leave and Holidays.
Less people came to CISs with COVID-19 queries in 2021 than the previous year of the pandemic.
More people came to CISs with queries about Irish Citizenship and applications for Irish Residence Permits (12,531) than in 2020.
Less people looked for information and assistance with Jobseeker’s Allowance in 2021 than in previous years.
More people came to services looking for information about Fuel Allowance in 2021 than the previous year of the pandemic.
Top Ten Entitlements
One quarter of all queries dealt with by services were related to ten key payments or entitlements. The top ten dealt with by CISs in 2021 were...
- Medical Cards
- Carer's Allowance
- State Pension/Contributory
- Disability Allowance
- Jobseeker's Allowance
- Applications for Local Authority/Social Housing
- Illness Benefit
- Leave and Holidays
- Fuel Allowance
- Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP)