A 5% anonymised, individual level sample of the data covering demographic and socio-economic variables has been made available from the 2006 Census. A Census of Population of Ireland was taken on the night of Sunday, 23 April 2006, in accordance with the Statistics (Census of Population) Order 2005 (S.I. No. 786 of 2005). The census figures relate to the de facto population, i.e. the population recorded for each area represents the total of all persons present within its boundaries on the night of Sunday, 23 April 2006, together with all persons who arrived in that area on the morning of Monday, 24 April 2006, not having been enumerated elsewhere. Census data is collected every 5 years.

A 5 per cent random sample of the recoded person records from each county was selected. The records within each county were sorted randomly before output to the sample file.

Self-administered questionnaire: Paper