About irishstats.com

What we do

irishstats.com is an independent public-data platform for Ireland. We collect and publish 67 trackers across nine categories — transport, housing, health, environment, politics, business, education, lifestyle, and social welfare. On top of that we run a dedicated finance section that drills into government spending across four data layers and chases the gaps with Freedom of Information requests.

Every tracker is built from the same template: a clear headline stat, a chart, a map where it makes sense, an AI-drafted summary reviewed by a human editor, and a source credit. No pay-walls. No accounts. The data is yours.

Where the data comes from

We use public data wherever it exists — and where it doesn't, we ask for it. Sources include the Central Statistics Office, data.gov.ie, the Property Price Register, the Residential Tenancies Board, the EPA, Met Éireann, EirGrid, the HSE and NTPF, the National Transport Authority, the Oireachtas, Revenue, the Department of Public Expenditure, the CRO, the HEA, Garda crime statistics, FSAI inspection reports, and many more. Each tracker page lists its specific source and refresh frequency.

When the published data has gaps — typical at the agency and programme level of the budget — we file FOI requests. The public can lend their name to a request through /spending/gaps, and the response is published when it comes back.

How we work

Collectors run on a schedule, write to a single Postgres database and log every run. AI is used in two places: to draft tile summaries from the underlying data (always reviewed by an editor before publication), and to parse PDFs at scale where structured data isn't available. Charts and maps share one consistent visual style across the whole site so the numbers are easier to compare.

The platform is open in spirit: every page links to its source, every methodology decision is documented, and every error is ours to fix. If you spot one, hello@irishstats.com.

Methodology notes

• Headline stats are the most recent published data point. The exact recorded date is shown on every tile.
• Confidence indicators appear on trackers that rely on AI extraction or that need time to accumulate baseline data (notably the GTFS-R reliability trackers).
• FOI requests count working days from the day the request was sent, with a 25-day buffer that covers the worst-case public holiday window.
• Spending accountability is the share of a sector's total spend we can match to a specific department, programme or agency. Green >60%, amber 30–60%, red <30%.

Categories

The nine areas of Irish public life we currently track:

• Transport — Buses, trains, trams, bikes, EVs and the roads that move Ireland.
• Housing — Prices, completions, evictions, vacancy, planning and the social housing list.
• Health — Hospital waiting lists, GP access, inspections, screening and prescriptions.
• Environment — Water, air, weather, renewables, emissions and the natural world.
• Politics & Government — Spending, votes, expenses, tenders, elections and FOI accountability.
• Business & Economy — CSO indicators, business closures, fuel prices, salaries and tax deadlines.
• Education — CAO points, school inspections, enrolment, graduate outcomes and SUSI.
• Lifestyle — Crime, food safety, tourism, events, driving tests and passports.
• Social & Welfare — Live register, welfare rates, NGO funding, IPAS, poverty and disability supports.