The Household Budget Survey is a survey of a representative random sample of all private households in the State. The main purpose of the HBS is to determine in detail the pattern of household expenditure in order to update the weighting basis of the Consumer Price Index. Detailed information is also collected on all sources of household income and on a range of household facilities.

In 2015-2016, a new sampling methodology was introduced to improve the robustness of the HBS sample and bring into line with other house household surveys. The following is a brief overview of the revised HBS sample methodology: The HBS was a multi-stage cluster sample resulting in all households in Ireland having an equal probability of selection The household population was stratified by NUTS4 and quintiles derived from the Pobal HP (Haase and Pratschke) Deprivation Index A sample of 1,430 blocks (i.e. Household Survey Collection Unit Small Areas, Census 2011) from the total population of 17,320 blocks was selected. Blocks were selected using probability proportional to size (PPS), where the size of the block is determined by the number of occupied households on Census night 2011 The second sampling stage involved the selection of 13 households within each block using simple random sampling without replacement (SRS) for inclusion in the survey sample. All occupied households on Census night 2011 within each block are eligible for selection in the HBS sample

Face-to-face interview: CAPI/CAMI

Self-administered questionnaire