Kildare scored 3.11 on the index, the highest nationally
The gap between Ireland's most disadvantaged areas and the national average has increased.
Pobal's HP Deprivation Index found almost 200 thousand people here live in very or extremely disadvantaged areas.
The areas found to be performing the worst included parts of Dublin's inner city, the outskirts of Cork and Waterford cities and a small number of rural towns.
Kildare was found to be the most affluent county, scoring 3.11 on the index, the highest nationally.
Martin Quigley from Pobal says while there are more people living here, the wealth is not being shared around equally:

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