Written Answers Nos. 1416-1418
1416. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the deprivation rates in each of the electoral areas of Ennis, Ennistymon, Killaloe, Kilrush, and Shannon, in the county of Clare, for each of the years 2011 to 2024, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3395/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Pobal HP Deprivation Index is Ireland’s primary social gradient tool, used by many Government Departments, including my own, and state agencies for the identification of disadvantage, in order to target resources towards communities most in need.
The Index is a robust and reliable tool, using data from Ireland’s census to identify relative levels of affluence or disadvantage across geographic areas throughout the country.
The current iteration of the Index uses data from Census 2022, analysing ten measures of an area’s levels of disadvantage. These include educational attainment, employment status and the numbers living in individual households. More detailed information on the index can be found on the Pobal website at www.pobal.ie/.
The below table sets out a breakdown of HP Deprivation Index scores for the County Clare Electoral Areas of Ennis, Ennistymon, Killaloe, Kilrush, and Shannon for each of the years 2011 to 2024.
The current Local Electoral Areas (LEA) reflect the changes as defined in the Local Electoral Areas Order 2018. Prior to 2018, the Local Electoral Areas of Ennistymon and Kilrush had not come into effect, and the electoral area of West Clare comprised of both at that time. As such specific HP Deprivation Index scores for those areas are not available prior to 2018.
For the purposes of making the data comparable when looking back at the other Local Electoral Areas data, the West Clare 2022 Deprivation Index score has been recalculated using a weighted average from the Ennistymon and Kilrush Local Electoral Areas.
|
LEA Name |
2006 HP Deprivation Index |
2011 HP Deprivation Index |
2016 HP Deprivation Index |
2022 HP Deprivation Index |
|
Ennis |
1.0 |
1.4 |
1.2 |
1.14 |
|
Killaloe |
2.0 |
1.7 |
1.6 |
2.88 |
|
Shannon |
1.0 |
1.0 |
.6 |
0.3 |
|
West Clare (Split in 2018) |
-3.5 |
-3.9 |
-3.4 |
-2.4 |
|
Ennistymon (Created in 2018) |
NA |
NA |
NA |
0.35 |
|
Kilrush (Created in 2018) |
NA |
NA |
NA |
-4.62 |
1418. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the measures his Department is taking to encourage civil servants in his Department to take or avail of special leave or career breaks, or other forms of leave to encourage and facilitate Ireland's 2026 EU Presidency, the Government "Career for EU" jobs strategy, and the Department's Gaeilge-Irish language policy and promotion; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3939/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department is committed to staff development and promotes several programmes annually. Staff are encouraged to apply for opportunities in the EU through the National Experts in Professional Training (NEPT) programme and the Erasmus programme. These are usually offered as secondment positions rather than facilitated through career breaks or special leave.
We look forward to playing a full and active role in the 2026 EU Presidency and staff will be given every opportunity to get involved in the appropriate ways in the run up to and the duration of the Presidency.
Gael Linn usually runs week-long residential Irish language courses in June and August. Each year the Department’s Irish Language Officer and the Learning and Development team usually invite staff to participate. Participants are granted 2.5 paid training days and may take the remaining 2.5 days as leave (eg. Annual leave, special leave.). In 2024, two staff availed of this residential training.
