Widening gap between disadvantaged communities across Ireland
Almost 200,000 people now live in areas classed as either very or extremely disadvantaged, with urban areas such as Cork and Dublin containing more of the extremes of highly deprived or highly affluent areas.
New data showing the widening gap between disadvantaged communities in Ireland and the rest of the country makes for “sobering” reading, a Government minister has said.
Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development Joe O’Brien described the findings from the 2022 Pobal HP Deprivation Index as “stark” and “demands all of us in Government to redouble our efforts”.
“This is evidence is so invaluable to those of us committed to tackling consistent poverty and intergenerational poverty,” Mr O’Brien told attendees at the launch of the new index Thursday.
Created with the aid of Census data for 2022, the Pobal deprivation index provides a map of the country and drills down into 19,000 small areas – sometimes street by street or by particular housing estates – and analyses a number of metrics to indicate whether that area is disadvantaged or affluent when compared to the national average.
It found that Ireland’s poorest communities remain “persistently disadvantaged” as part of a “long-term and entrenched phenomenon, and the gap between them and non-deprived areas is growing.
Almost 200,000 people now live in areas classed as either very or extremely disadvantaged, with urban areas such as Cork and Dublin containing more of the extremes of highly disadvantaged or highly affluent areas. However, in general, there has been an improvement around the country except in those places already disadvantaged, the data suggests.
The index and maps are used by policymakers across Government to inform their decisions.
Martin Quigley, Director of Data and Analytics at Pobal, said their data is used by the HSE for its resource allocation, to help designate DEIS status for schools and for the allocation of sports capital funding. As well as resources, it can also be used by bodies such as the CSO and for the likes of local property tax and policy analysis.
“That gap between the most disadvantaged and the average has actually widened,” he said.
“The key finding here is that actually on average things have improved.
Mr Quigley called the disadvantage seen across Ireland a “spatially entrenched phenomenon”, that is seen is areas such as Dublin’s inner city and its north and west suburbs, along with areas around Cork, Limerick, and Waterford cities.
He said it can be “pockets” of these areas that remain extremely disadvantaged for many years.
Minister O’Brien said that, going forward, initiatives from his department and others aimed at supporting communities and fostering inclusion would be “heavily supported” by the index.
He said that Ireland is “out there on our own on this one” in terms of using the data to try to tackle poverty and disadvantage in communities. “We should be proud, and use it as best we can,” he said.
“Because it's data-driven we can argue and help with evidence to make the case that the money is going to be well spent and spent in the right areas,” he added.
