9. Have you lived outside the Republic of Ireland for a continuous period of one year or more?Question 9 -- Have you lived outside the Republic of Ireland for a continuous period of one year or more?
This question is for persons aged 1 year or over. If your place of usual residence is in the Republic of Ireland and you were either:

• born in this country and lived outside it for a continuous period of one year or more, or
• born abroad and lived outside Ireland for a continuous period of one year or more,

then you should mark box 1 (Yes). You should also write in the year of last taking up residence in this country and the country of last previous residence.

Question 6-10. The purpose of questions 6 - 10 is to study migration patterns, both short-term and long-term. The resulting information will give us a picture of where people are moving to and from and their characteristics in terms of age, sex, education, occupation etc.

Comparing a person's place of birth (question 6) and his or her current place of usual residence (question 7) gives an indication of the extent of longer term migration.

[Examples omitted.]

Location (question 7) is a key characteristic that is used with other data to build an accurate picture of our population. It is the basis for the annual population estimates and for population projections. It is also used to determine changes to electoral boundaries.

By comparing a person's usual residence one year before the Census (question 8) and their residence at Census time (question 7), we get an indication of the extent to which people change residence. The responses also provide data on the extent of internal migration within Ireland.