In 2024, Citizens Information Services nationwide assisted 395,017 callers — a small decline of 0.7% over 2023 levels — who raised 767,168 queries.

Although the query total is down slightly (3.5%) on 2023, queries are becoming more complex. This is shown by an increase in the time spent on calls, with nearly a 10% increase in calls lasting 21–40 minutes and an almost 2% increase in calls lasting 11–20 minutes.

The average number of callers per month was 32,918, slightly down from 33,134 in 2023. January had the highest number of callers (38,151) and quarter one (1 January to 31 March) was the busiest quarter with 106,122 callers (26.8% of the full year's callers).

Country of Origin was recorded for 62.3% of callers (246,218). Of these, callers from Ireland accounted for 75% of the total (183,526), while for 25% of callers their country of origin was outside Ireland (62,692 callers). Callers whose country of origin was Poland decreased by 11.9% to 7,383, while callers from Ukraine increased by 9.8% to 6,742.

The number of non-EU callers increased by 13% to 42,145, while the number of EU callers (excluding Ireland) decreased by 5.8% to 20,547.

There were 767,168 queries to CISs in 2024. Most came under the headings of Social Welfare, Housing, Health, Money and Tax, or Employment. Although ‘Local’ queries feature in the top five recorded categories (above Money and Tax and Employment), ‘Local’ is a generic category that includes signposting and referral to local services with no breakdown of query type. It is not, therefore, included in the ‘top five’ query analysis.

Social Welfare Queries

Social Welfare was, as always, the category with the largest number of queries (346,054), representing 45.1% of all 2024 queries to Citizens Information Services. In terms of query numbers this was a 7% overall decrease compared to 2023; proportionately the decrease was 1.7% (Social Welfare made up 46.8% of 2023 queries):

• Extra Social Welfare Benefits (ESWB) remained the most queried social welfare sub-category with 53,456 queries, accounting for 16% of all Social Welfare queries. Within this category there were 21,131 queries about the Fuel Allowance, 16,337 on the Household Benefits Package and almost 7,000 about Free Travel.
• Disability & Illness payment queries were the next highest sub-category, with a very similar number (53,159) to ESWB, accounting for over 15% of Social Welfare queries. Within this were 26,216 Disability Allowance queries (almost 50% of the sub-category), 12,888 Illness Benefit queries and 10,304 Invalidity Pension queries.
• The third highest sub-category was Older and Retired People, with 48,031 queries, close to 14% of all Social Welfare queries. Of these, 26,385 (55%) concerned the Contributory State Pension and 11,570 (24%) the Non-Contributory State Pension.
• The fourth most queried sub-category was Carer's Payments and Schemes with 37,101 queries, about 11% of all Social Welfare queries. Within this were 22,466 Carer's Allowance and 4,316 Carer's Benefit queries, along with 4,230 Domiciliary Care Allowance queries.

Housing Queries

Housing was the second highest query category with 85,148 queries, a similar level to 2023 — 11% of all queries in 2024. Over 50% of housing queries (43,078) related to Local Authority and Social Housing, the next most queried sub-category being Housing Grants and Schemes (13,809).

• More than half of all social housing queries concerned Applying for Local Authority/Social Housing, which increased by 2.5% (21,642).
• Housing Assistance Payment queries decreased by 8.7% (10,316).
• Housing Grants and Schemes queries made up 16.2% (13,809) of all Housing queries — similar to 2023.
• Renting a Home (Private Rental Accommodation) queries decreased by 15.5% to 10,255, while Home Energy Grants (SEAI) queries increased by 23.2% (to 6,725).
• Homelessness queries increased by 10.8% (to 3,561).
• Buying/Owning a Home queries increased by 11.5% (2,589).

Health Queries

While there were decreases across most main query categories compared to 2023, Health queries increased by 6.8%. The total number of health-related queries was 62,496:

• Medical Card (and GP Visit Card) queries accounted for 67% of the health-related queries.

Other Queries

Information staff logged 44,702 Money and Tax queries, a decrease of 7.1% on 2023:

• Income Tax Credits and Reliefs decreased by 13.7% and there was a small (2.3%) decrease in queries about Income Tax.
• Revenue Online queries decreased by 6.4%.
• Income Tax Refund and Capital Taxes increased by 2.1% and 4.2% respectively.

Employment queries stood at 44,326 (a drop of 6.3% on 2023):

• Queries relating to Employment Rights and Conditions decreased by 9.8%.
• Contracts of Employment decreased by 11.4%.
• Leave and Holidays decreased by 28.9%.
• Unemployment and Redundancy decreased to just under 4,000 queries.
• Self-employment saw an increase of 8.6% to 3,721 queries.

There were almost 37,000 queries relating to Moving country:

• An increase of 23.5% in queries about Irish Residence Permit (IRP) applications and renewals.
• Queries relating to Visas increased by 5.9%.
• Queries relating to Asylum Seekers and Refugees increased significantly — by 62.3% to 1,771.
• Queries relating to Irish Citizenship decreased by 18.2% (11,810 queries).

Travel and Recreation queries decreased by 1.4% to 19,534:

• Queries relating to Motoring increased by 7.6% to 7,564.
• Queries about Passports decreased by 6.7% to 6,246.

Justice queries decreased by 6.8% to 18,705:

• Queries relating to Legal Aid and Advice decreased to 8,713, a reduction of 13.5%.
• Civil Law queries dropped to 1,544, a fall of 16%.
• Queries about the Courts System increased by 8% (890 queries).

There were over 16,000 queries related to Birth, Family and Relationships, a decrease of 9.6%:

• 4,775 of these queries were about Separation and Divorce, down by 10.9%.
• 2,124 queries were on Maintenance, a fall of 17.6%.

Education and Training queries decreased overall by 1.5% to 13,802:

• Third level education queries decreased by 3.8% (6,118).
• Vocational Education and Training queries increased to 2,091, up by 30.5%.

Consumer Affairs queries decreased by 8.7% to 10,717:

• Consumer Protection queries decreased by 20.3% (2,280).
• Energy/Utilities Services decreased by 14.7% (2,098).

Government in Ireland queries increased by 25.1% to 6,113:

• MyGovID queries increased by 17.4% (1,984).
• Queries about Elections and Referenda increased to 974 from 104, due to the General Election and the Referendums on Family and Care held in 2024.

Death and Bereavement queries increased slightly by 2% to 5,657. Environment queries also increased, by 2.5% to 1,477.

Of all queries received by CISs in 2024, over one quarter (28.2%) related to ten specific entitlements — seven social welfare entitlements, two housing and one health. Of these, enquiries about the Medical Card again came out top of the list.

With close to 800,000 queries in 2024, CISs continue to play an essential support role in Ireland. A large portion of the queries raised in 2024 follow previous trends, with Social Welfare still the category with the largest number of queries.

However, when compared with 2023, the data has also highlighted some emerging trends. A significant number of people are presenting to CISs with additional support needs, of which language is the most common. This is coupled with an increase in the number of callers who are from outside the EU. Together with the increase in the length of time people are spending in CISs, this shows an increased level of complexity in the cases CIS information workers are dealing with.

Click below for a more detailed profiling of CIS queries in 2024.
Query Categories 2024 (Word document)
Query Categories 2024 (PDF)