A majority of the 16,000-strong Roma community in Ireland are working and define themselves as Irish citizens, according to latest statistics.
It is the first time official statistics for the Roma community in Ireland are available on foot of the category being listed under ethnicity in the 2022 Census. The figures are contained in a report published by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth based on data recorded in the Census and other sources.
The data shows most Roma were located in Dublin and Cork. A majority (61 per cent) of Roma in Ireland aged over 15 were recorded as “persons at work”, a higher rate compared to the general population (57 per cent). Almost double the number of Roma males were working compared to females.
A small minority of Roma were long-term unemployed (5 per cent), higher than the rate for the wider population (3 per cent).
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Educational achievement for the Roma community was lower, on average, compared to the general population. The rate of transfer from primary to second level for Roma children in 2022/23 was 89 per cent, higher than the rate for Travellers (83 per cent) but lower than the general population (96 per cent).
While 11 per cent of over-15s listed their highest level of educational qualification as “upper secondary”, about 28 per cent listed post-second level qualifications ranging from technical or vocational training to college degrees or postgraduate qualifications. A small proportion had no formal education (4 per cent).
When asked about identity Roma in Ireland were more likely to define their citizenship as Irish (28 per cent), while smaller numbers defined themselves as Romanian citizens (22 per cent) or Italian (10 per cent).
The Roma population includes almost 5,000 families which were bigger on average than families in the general population.
About 40 per cent of Roma families had no children, 20 per cent had one child, 24 per cent had two children, 10 per cent had three children and 7 per cent had four or more children. By comparison approximately 52 per cent of families in the general population had no children, 18 per cent had one child, 17 per cent had two children, 8 per cent had three children and 3 per cent had four or more children.
A survey conducted by Ipsos on behalf of the department last year indicates that people in Ireland have less positive views towards the Roma community.
While a majority of those surveyed (80 per cent) would be comfortable with their children being in the same class as a child from the Roma community, just over half (53 per cent) said they would be comfortable living next door to a member of the Roma community.
Similarly just over half (55 per cent) would not be comfortable with a child of theirs being in a relationship with a member of the Roma community, much lower than for a person who is “Irish” (95 per cent).
Most of the general population (63 per cent) believe identifying as a member of the Roma community would put a person at a disadvantage when being hired for a role.
The report notes that data in the report should be interpreted with some caution as information sources may underrepresent the number of Roma in Ireland, while self-identifying as Roma was in all cases optional.
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