Original research

The Missing Money Index

The Department of Social Protection told us it holds no estimate of who misses out on a payment, and no county breakdown at all. So we built one from its own recipient counts and the Census: three payments, 26 counties, one question. Where is take-up lowest?

What this is, and what it is not. Each county's figure is the number of people getting a payment, divided by the number of people in the group that payment is for. It is an index of take-up, with 100 as the national rate. It is not a count of eligible people: the Census does not hold income, so a county below 100 may have fewer eligible people, or more people missing out. The Index says where to ask. Every number is our arithmetic on two official sources, and none of it is a decision from any Department.

Kerrylowest take-up of Household Benefits: 86 against a national 100

9,244people over 70 in the counties below the national rate, short of it

€3,880,166a year on energy bills if those counties reached the national rate

Household Benefits: no means test, so the gap is hard to explain away

From age 70 the Household Benefits Package has no means test. Income cannot explain a county being below the national rate, which is why this is the Index's strongest table. The Department's own analysis found 116,000 households with someone over 70 not getting it. This table says where to look first.

Nationally 341,947 households get it, against 538,171 people aged 70 or over: a rate of 63.5%. Kerry (86), Mayo (88), Kilkenny (90) are furthest below it. The value column is the electricity or gas allowance alone, €1.15 a day, about €420 a year; the free TV licence is on top.

County	In the group	Getting it	Index	Short of the national rate
Kerry	20,468	11,236	86	1,769 people €742,538 a year if take-up
Mayo	19,027	10,675	88	1,415 people €593,946 a year if take-up
Kilkenny	11,818	6,794	90	715 people €300,121 a year if take-up
Galway	29,645	17,230	91	1,606 people €674,118 a year if take-up
Donegal	20,743	12,137	92	1,043 people €437,799 a year if take-up
Clare	15,030	8,852	93	698 people €292,986 a year if take-up
Monaghan	7,172	4,271	94	286 people €120,048 a year if take-up
Roscommon	9,006	5,375	94	347 people €145,653 a year if take-up
Sligo	8,974	5,531	97	171 people €71,777 a year if take-up
Cork	62,311	38,746	98	846 people €355,108 a year if take-up
Offaly	8,945	5,590	98	94 people €39,456 a year if take-up
Wexford	18,986	11,860	98	203 people €85,209 a year if take-up
Cavan	8,542	5,376	99	51 people €21,407 a year if take-up
Meath	18,327	11,664	100	above, by 19
Wicklow	16,384	10,469	101	above, by 59
Waterford	14,685	9,476	102	above, by 145
Limerick	23,286	15,292	103	above, by 496
Tipperary	20,382	13,394	103	above, by 444
Dublin	137,189	90,675	104	above, by 3,507
Leitrim	4,484	2,965	104	above, by 116
Carlow	6,393	4,437	109	above, by 375
Westmeath	9,781	6,803	109	above, by 588
Kildare	19,657	13,785	110	above, by 1,295
Louth	13,820	9,825	112	above, by 1,044
Laois	8,019	5,791	114	above, by 696
Longford	5,097	3,698	114	above, by 459

Caveat: paid once per household, and about a quarter of recipients are under 66 (the county file does not split by age). Recipients: DSP schemes HHB and HHB1, 2026Q2. Group: Census 2022, table F1012 (persons aged 70-74, 75-79, 80-84, 85+), summed from electoral divisions.

Carer's Allowance

Means-tested (the partner's income counts), so a low county may be a better-off county rather than a county missing out. Nationally 110,827 people get it, against 105,407 carers giving 29 or more hours of unpaid help a week: more recipients than full-time carers, because the Census asks about hours and the payment also reaches carers who did not describe themselves that way. The index still compares like with like across counties. The value column is the full rate for a carer under 66, €270 a week.

County	In the group	Getting it	Index	Short of the national rate
Meath	4,181	3,727	85	669 people €9,392,760 a year if take-up
Clare	2,786	2,575	88	354 people €4,970,160 a year if take-up
Kildare	4,619	4,322	89	535 people €7,511,400 a year if take-up
Dublin	25,618	24,504	91	2,431 people €34,131,240 a year if take-up
Galway	5,724	5,516	92	502 people €7,048,080 a year if take-up
Cork	12,470	12,237	93	874 people €12,270,960 a year if take-up
Wicklow	3,188	3,101	93	251 people €3,524,040 a year if take-up
Kilkenny	2,211	2,198	95	127 people €1,783,080 a year if take-up
Mayo	3,340	3,392	97	120 people €1,684,800 a year if take-up
Monaghan	1,306	1,372	100	1 people €14,040 a year if take-up
Sligo	1,538	1,627	101	above, by 10
Kerry	3,535	3,839	103	above, by 122
Laois	2,167	2,348	103	above, by 70
Roscommon	1,700	1,844	103	above, by 57
Leitrim	805	885	105	above, by 39
Waterford	2,746	3,022	105	above, by 135
Wexford	3,989	4,663	111	above, by 469
Cavan	1,644	1,939	112	above, by 210
Louth	2,933	3,553	115	above, by 469
Tipperary	3,964	4,829	116	above, by 661
Donegal	4,040	4,964	117	above, by 716
Westmeath	2,065	2,654	122	above, by 483
Carlow	1,391	1,795	123	above, by 332
Limerick	4,493	5,823	123	above, by 1,099
Offaly	1,988	2,626	126	above, by 536
Longford	966	1,472	145	above, by 456

Caveat: the payment needs 35 hours a week; the Census bands split at 29 and 43, so the base is a little wider than the rule, and half-rate carers are counted as recipients. Recipients: DSP scheme CAR, 2026Q2. Group: Census 2022, table F4015 (carers, 29-42 and 43+ hours a week).

Disability Allowance

Means-tested (the partner's income counts). Nationally 178,143 people get it, against 220,289 people aged 15 to 64 with a disability to a great extent: a rate of 80.9%. The commuter counties sit lowest, which is what a means test would produce, so read this table as a question, not a finding. The value column is the full personal rate, €254 a week.

County	In the group	Getting it	Index	Short of the national rate
Kildare	10,350	6,986	83	1,384 people €18,279,872 a year if take-up
Meath	8,353	5,673	84	1,082 people €14,291,056 a year if take-up
Dublin	58,839	42,337	89	5,245 people €69,275,960 a year if take-up
Wicklow	6,857	5,119	92	426 people €5,626,608 a year if take-up
Cork	26,138	20,995	99	142 people €1,875,536 a year if take-up
Kilkenny	4,382	3,514	99	30 people €396,240 a year if take-up
Roscommon	3,119	2,520	100	2 people €26,416 a year if take-up
Louth	6,466	5,286	101	above, by 57
Clare	5,190	4,295	102	above, by 98
Laois	4,395	3,624	102	above, by 70
Wexford	8,256	6,884	103	above, by 208
Cavan	3,212	2,704	104	above, by 107
Sligo	3,112	2,645	105	above, by 128
Galway	11,164	9,598	106	above, by 570
Waterford	5,965	5,111	106	above, by 287
Monaghan	2,220	1,919	107	above, by 124
Carlow	3,110	2,759	110	above, by 244
Offaly	4,042	3,614	111	above, by 345
Limerick	10,067	9,086	112	above, by 945
Westmeath	4,296	3,897	112	above, by 423
Leitrim	1,491	1,362	113	above, by 156
Mayo	5,410	4,957	113	above, by 582
Donegal	7,194	6,962	120	above, by 1,144
Tipperary	7,806	7,571	120	above, by 1,258
Kerry	6,748	6,587	121	above, by 1,130
Longford	2,107	2,138	125	above, by 434

Caveat: the payment starts at 16 and the Census band at 15; a person can qualify without reporting a disability to a great extent, and some who report one are on another payment. Recipients: DSP scheme DPMA, 2026Q2. Group: Census 2022, table F4004 (disability to a great extent, ages 15-24, 25-44, 45-64), summed from electoral divisions.

How this was produced

Recipients come from the Department of Social Protection's open dataset of quarterly recipients by scheme and county on data.gov.ie, April to June 2026. A few hundred recipients have no county recorded and are left out.
The groups come from Census 2022 on the CSO's data portal: ages and disability by electoral division, summed to the 26 counties (the sum matches the State total of 5,149,139 exactly), and carers by county and hours.
The index is a county's recipients per person in the group, divided by the national figure, times 100. "Short of the national rate" is how many more people would be getting the payment if the county matched the country.
The value multiplies that shortfall by the payment's current rate, taken from our verified figure register, so a Budget change flows through. It is what the gap is worth if, and only if, take-up is the reason.
The Census is from April 2022 and the recipient counts from April to June 2026; counties that grew fastest since then will read a little low.

Using this

Journalists, researchers, councillors and TDs are welcome to use any of it, with a link back. The full dataset is published openly as JSON, CC BY 4.0. If you want a county looked at more closely, or the same method run on another payment, get in touch. If you are over 70 and not getting the Household Benefits Package, the guide is here, and it takes one form.

This page is generated, not typed. It is rebuilt when the Department publishes a new quarter or a rate changes. Last generated 14 October 2026.

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