More than a quarter of Irish people - or 1.2 million - are affected by deprivation, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

It means that 27% of people could not afford two of a list of 11 very basic items in 2012. That is up from 25% in 2011.

The new figures also show 13% of people could not heat their homes properly, and one-third of children are living in deprivation.

Disposable income also dropped to an average of €17,702 in 2012 - a drop of more than €400.

Last year the at risk of poverty rate was 16.5%, compared to 16.0% in 2011. The CSO says that change "is not statistically significant".

Almost 27% of the population experienced two or more types of "enforced deprivation" in 2012, up from 24.5% in 2011.

It adds that the consistent poverty rate was 7.7%, up slightly on the 2011 figure of 6.9%.

This comes on the same day as a survey, which said that half of Irish households are forced into debt just by paying essential bills.