Social protection expenditure in Ireland 2023 - Key findings:

• In 2023, €63.5 billion was spent on social protection in Ireland, 7% more than in 2022.
• Temporary protection applicants, due to the war in Ukraine, accounted for the large percentage increase in the area of housing since 2022, up from €2.7 billion to €3.6 billion in 2023.
• Spending on sickness/healthcare and old age continued to account for the largest proportion of social protection expenditure in 2023 at 70% of the total.
• Countries neighbouring Ukraine (Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Bulgaria) saw the largest percentage increase in social protection expenditure per capita in the European Union.

Social protection covers all interventions, from public or private bodies, which are aimed at reducing the burden of poverty and vulnerability on households and individuals. These interventions are grouped into eight functions: sickness/healthcare, disability, old age, survivors, family/children, unemployment, housing, and social exclusion. The background notes provide more details on what social protection encompasses and details of each function. For example, "social exclusion not elsewhere classified benefits– including income support, rehabilitation of alcohol and drug abusers and other miscellaneous benefits (except healthcare)".

In 2023, the housing function was the fourth largest function at €3.6 billion or 5.9% of all social benefit expenditure. This primarily relates to the provision of social housing by Local Authorities and Approved Housing Bodies, emergency accommodation to persons seeking refuge from the war in Ukraine, and RAS2 and HAP3 to people needing housing support payments. The disability function closely follows the housing function at €3.3 billion. The majority of expenditure on social benefits protecting against disability comes from the DSP's Disability Allowance (Voted Expenditure). The payment of the Invalidity Pension accounts for most of the protection against disability under the Social Insurance Fund. The unemployment, survivors and social exclusion functions make up the remaining €4.4 billion of social protection benefits. [See main results page for more information]