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.