Key findings:

• In 2024, €69.9 billion was spent on social protection in Ireland, 5.9% more than in 2023.
• Spending on Sickness/Healthcare and Old Age continued to account for the largest proportion of social protection expenditure in 2024 at 71.6% of the total or €48.4 billion.
• Expenditure on Disability had the next largest increase at 8.9%, from €3.3 billion in 2023 to €3.6 billion in 2024.
• Ireland has the second highest proportion of means-tested benefits in Europe at 25%. The EU average is 11%

Commenting on the release, Ciara O’Shea, Statistician in the Government Accounts Compilation and Outputs Division, said: “Social protection is a set of interventions where the objective is to reduce social and economic risk and vulnerability and to alleviate extreme poverty and deprivation. Social protection expenditure in Ireland was €69.9 billion in 2024, based on preliminary estimates. Compared with 2023, this was an increase of €3.9 billion or 5.9%. The total expenditure represented 12% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or 22% of Modified Gross National Income (GNI*). The main increases were observed in the areas of Sickness/Healthcare (+€4.4 billion) and Disability (+€0.3 billion).

International Comparison
Social protection benefits can be means-tested or non-means-tested. Within all European countries, the majority of benefits are non-means-tested varying from 99% in Estonia to 64% in Denmark. Ireland has the second lowest proportion of non-means-tested benefits at 75%. The European average is 89%.

Social Protection Schemes
The Public Health scheme is the largest scheme in terms of expenditure (€26.8 billion or 39.7% of the total), followed by Department of Social Protection (DSP) Voted Expenditure (€13.5 billion or 20.1%), the Social Insurance Fund (€13.1 billion or 19.4%), Government Employment (€6.1 billion or 9%), and Private Occupational Pensions (€4.2 billion or 6.2%). The remaining two schemes are small in comparison: the Housing scheme accounted for €2.8 billion or 4.2% of expenditure while the spend on the Child Protection Scheme was €1 billion or 1.5% of expenditure.”