Citizens Information Services (CISs) National Statistics 2023

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CIS Statistical Highlights 2023

Overview

Infographic of Statistical Highlights 2023

397,605 callers were assisted by Citizens Information Services (CISs) nationwide in 2023, an increase of 0.8% on the 2022 numbers. These callers had over 795,278 queries - a similar increase on the 2022 query levels.
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Caller Profile



The average number of callers per month nationally for 2023 was 33,134 up from the average number for 2022 of 32,867. January had the highest number of callers (37,776) and quarter one (January 1st to March 31st) was the busiest quarter with 107,403 callers (27% of the calls in 2023).

Chart 1: Callers comparison by month from 2022 and 2023
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Mode of Contact



In 2023, personal callers accounted for 60% of contacts (236,661 callers). The number of personal callers increased by 44.3% on the previous year. 93% of personal callers were Drop-In and 7% were Appointments. Telephone contact dropped by almost a third on the previous year and is no longer the most widely used form of contact. Letter/email contact also dropped 20% accounting for just 3% of callers.

Chart 2: Modes of Contact

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Gender



58% of callers to services were female (229,817), 37.2% were male (147,768) and 4.6% were couples/family members (18,420). Females continue to account for the majority of callers, but the number of female callers dropped 3.8%, male caller numbers increased by 5.2%. With the addition of family members this year to the Couples category group, it increased by 42% and may account for some changes in caller profile numbers.

Chart 3: Gender of Callers to CISs in 2023

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Age



Age was recorded for almost 68% of callers in 2023. The 26-45 and the 46-65 age category contacted CISs at similar rates, 39.1% and 38.3% respectively. The 26-45 age category in 2022 contacted CISs most at 42.5%, in 2023 the numbers decreased by 5.2% (105,295 callers). The 46-65 age group grew by 9.4% (103,261 callers) and the 66 and overs contacted 10.6% more in 2023, representing 19.44% of total of callers (52,360 callers).

Chart 4: Number of Callers to CISs by Age Categories in 2023

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Specific Needs



Almost 14% or 54,684 callers to CISs in 2023 had 74,033 specific needs identified by information officers. 41.5% of callers where there was a specific need related to language, an increase of 22.5% on those from the previous year. The number of distressed clients who contacted CISs was up over a third in 2023. Nearly 11,000 callers had issues with IT Access and Digital Literacy problems and almost 40% of these came from the 66 and over age group.


Chart 5: Top Specific Needs of Callers for 2023


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Nationality/Country of Origin



Country of Origin was recorded for 62% of callers (245,954) in 2023. 24% of caller’s country of origin was outside Ireland (59,119). Callers from Ireland accounted for 76% of callers (186,835). Callers from Poland (8,385), and Ukraine (6,141) were the highest groups whose country of origin was outside Ireland.


Table 1: Callers countries of origin by age group



Under 25 26-45 46-65 66 and Over
1 Ukraine Poland Poland United Kingdom
2 Poland Ukraine United Kingdom Ukraine
3 Nigeria Nigeria Ukraine Poland
4 Romania Romania Nigeria Lithuania
5 Syria Bangladesh Romania United States of America


Non-EU callers continues to increase, accounting for 15.17% of callers to CISs. Between 2022 and 2023 there was a 12.4% increase (to 37,307 callers). EU callers also increased in 2023 and grew by 14% to 21,812 callers.


Chart 6: Country of Origin for Callers/EU and non EU

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Query Categories



There were 795,278 queries to CISs in 2023- a slight increase – 0.8% on previous year.

People who contact CISs often have more than one query for information officers -- in 2023 the query/caller ratio was 2.00, the same as 2022.

The document below contains the five highest query categories presented to services by members of the public in 2023: Social Welfare, Housing, Health, Money and Tax and Employment. It features tables with query numbers, trends, and caller profile details.

Query Categories 2023 (docx) word document icon
Query Categories 2023 (pdf) pdf document icon


Chart 7: Top CIS Query categories for 2023

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Top 10 Entitlements in 2023



Chart 9: Top 10 Entitlements in 2023



28.4% of all queries in 2023 were related to the Top 10 entitlements.

Table 2: Top payments and schemes for each age category

Under 25 26-45 46-65 66 and Over
1 Jobseeker’s Allowance Medical card State Pension Contributory Fuel Allowance
2 Medical card Applying for local authority and social housing Disability Allowance Medical card
3 SUSI grant – Student Grant Scheme Disability Allowance Medical Card Household Benefits Package
4 Disability Allowance Working Family payment Fuel Allowance State Pension Contributory
5 Applying for local authority and social housing Carer’s Allowance Invalidity Pension State Pension non-Contributory
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Further Statistical Data



Quarterly reports for 2023 can be accessed on the Data Hub here

The document below contains the five highest query categories: Social Welfare, Housing, Health, Employment and Moving Country and shows the number of queries relating to the various schemes, payments and entitlements in each sub-category in 2023.

Query Categories 2023 (docx) word document icon
Query Categories 2023 (pdf) pdf document icon