Tipperary Marginally Below National Average In Pobal HP Deprivation Index.

Tipperary is marginally below the national average level of affluence, according to the 2022 Pobal HP Deprivation (Poverty) Index.

The Index, which is Ireland’s primary social gradient tool, found a nationwide improvement in measures such as employment and population growth, with levels largely returning to those observed in 2006, however persistent disadvantage remains for many communities.

Since the 2016 general election, County Tipperary has been a parliamentary 5 seater constituency that has elected to Dáil Éireann, 5 TDs, (Teachtaí Dála). In August last, 2023, an Electoral Commission, because of population increase, has recommended that Tipperary revert to a 2 x 3 seater constituency (6 TD’S), representing North and South Tipperary, in the next general election; same expected to take place at the latest in 2025, if not sooner.

Those 5 TD’S elected in the previous 2020 General Election, together with their vote counts are shown in the table hereunder.

The Pobal HP Deprivation 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. Almost 19,000 small areas, including 640 in Tipperary, (50-200 households) were indexed, leading to the development of a detailed map of the relative affluence and disadvantage.

Ms Anna Shakespeare (CEO of Pobal) has recently stated “The 2022 Pobal HP Deprivation Index is created to inform national policy and ensure that resources can be properly directed to where they are most needed. There has been an overall improvement for the majority of communities in Ireland, however we must also recognise that this is not being experienced equally.
At Pobal, we are committed to working on behalf of government to support communities to
combat disadvantage. This tool helps to create an understanding of the challenge of disadvantage and where it is prevalent, which is an important step towards achieving social inclusion for all.”

The 2022 Pobal HP Deprivation Index, is available on Pobal Maps HERE, (latter a free online Geographical Information System map viewer), which outlines the deprivation score for various geographic units such as county, constituency, electoral division or small area. Percentage data for the area is provided under a range of categories such as unemployment, educational attainment, and population change. The data can also be extracted for further analysis, through the geoprofiling viewer and compared between the
2022 Index Census and the three previous editions.

The two questions which now must be asked are:-

• Why has Tipperary, with 5 Teachtaí Dála, been allowed to fall behind on the Pobal HP Deprivation Index?
• Should the Tipperary electorate now change their choice of candidates, when it comes to voting in the 2025 General election?