Majority of Tipperary people say they are in 'good health' - Census 2016

The latest Central Statistics Office (CSO) report on Census 2016 in relation to Health, Disability and Carers, shows that the majority of those living in Tipperary stated their health to be either “very good” (91,935 people, 57.6%) or “good” (46,506 people, 29.1%), compared with 58.2% (“very good”), and 29.3% (“good”) in 2011.

The report shows that, across Ireland, some 87% of the population considered themselves to be in “very good” (59.4%) or “good” (27.6%) health. 643,131 people, or 13.5% of the population, indicated that they had a disability and the number of carers (people providing regular unpaid help for a friend/family member) increased by 8,151 (4.4%) to 195,263.

Deirdre Cullen, Senior Statistician, commented: “Census 2016 was the second census in which the Irish public were asked to rate their own health so we can now make comparisons over time. The report also provides detailed data and analysis on those with a disability while also examining changes in relation to carers, looking at issues such as the age and gender profile of carers, the number of carers in each county, and the hours of care provided.”

In relation to Tipperary the reports show that 1.8% of the County’s population (2,825 people) stated their health to be “bad/very bad” - just above the percentage at national level, and a 6.2% increase on the 2,659 who stated that their health was “bad/very bad” in 2011.

In relation to disability, in 2011, some 22,660 people with at least one disability comprised 14.3% of Tipperary’s population. In Census 2016, the 23,593 people with at least one disability made up 14.8% of the county’s population, compared with 13.5% at national level. Of these, 11,695 (49.6%) were male and 11,898 (50.4%) were female.

In Tipperary, 10,940 people stated that they had “a difficulty with pain, breathing or any other chronic illness or condition”, while 2,091 indicated they had blindness or a serious visual impairment and 3,945 had deafness or a serious hearing impairment.

In relation to Carers, some 7,041 people in Tipperary who stated that they “provided regular unpaid personal help for a friend or family member with a long-term illness, health problem or disability” comprised 4.4% of the county’s population in April 2016. This was a decrease of 76 people (1.1%) on 2011. Of the carers in the county, 4,225 were female (60.0%), and 2,816 were male (40.0%). There were 138 carers aged under 15 years, compared with 180 in 2011. Carers provided 256,120 hours of care per week, an average of 42.1 hours per carer per week. The total amount of weekly care hours was an increase of 803 hours (0.3%) on 2011.