Mr. Pádraig Dalton:

I thank the committee members for their interesting observations and questions. The CSO already plays a strong role in trying to support genealogy. We are the custodians of census records from 1951 to date. The years 1951 to 1981 are being held by the CSO, and the years up to 2006, in two different locations. The National Archives of Ireland stores the material from 1926 to 1951. In a sense, we are already making a big contribution in that we are trying to contain and protect the integrity of those records so that future genealogists can access the wealth of information. It is very important and we are already working with the Department and the National Archives of Ireland to see how we can move things forward for the release of the 1926 data in 2026.

Genealogy is a broad domain and there are significant number of resources and records that are of importance. The census is just one and I appreciate that is a very important one. The CSO must think about the fact that not a night goes by without the responsibility of the job weighs on this. We are very conscious that if we make a mistake on something like inflation, GDP or GNP or if we undertake any action that may undermine our ability to compile accurate and high quality statistics in those domains, it will not just have an impact on the CSO as they are of systemic importance. Let us think about what has happened in the past five or six years and how official statistics are now front and centre in monitoring how the economy is progressing and moving. The CSO is no different and our focus, role and responsibility is on the production of high-quality official statistics. Confidentiality is a cornerstone of it but it exists for a reason. It is there to maintain response rates and for us to maintain quality.

There is a direct link between confidentiality, response rates and quality. The retrospective nature of any potential change is what is of particular concern. The integrity of the confidentiality guarantee we provide will come under serious scrutiny, and not just for the census. We get detailed information from businesses, enterprises and householders. It will be very difficult for us, if the laws change a second time, to state the case for the ongoing protection of the data. Despite the fact there are statutory obligations on businesses to provide data to us, we find ourselves in the courts trying to ensure the legal requirement on enterprises is upheld by the law in terms of the provision of data. Response rates are very important because it is directly related to quality.

One of the points of concern to us is trying to protect this heritage for the future. We are all agreed on that point. One of our concerns is the storage of census forms. The National Archives of Ireland is the expert on storage and has examined how we are currently storing some census data. While the storage facilities are sufficient for the short term, trying to protect this information in the longer term for future generations and future genealogists means there must be some examination of how the records can be maintained into the future. We are not experts in data warehousing or protecting records of this nature. We do our best but, like everyone, we have limited resources. It is a significant issue that the committee could examine and see how we could be protected in the future. It is an important issue.

We are not trying to be resistant for the sake of it but our function is the provision of official statistics and we have a responsibility to take all of the precautions to ensure that we can ensure the publication and dissemination of official statistics to the highest standards. Our activities are now monitored far more closely than previously. We have study visits from the European Commission and the European Central Bank where they can come in and audit our books. Legislation going through the European Parliament will broaden that formal scrutiny beyond the key economic indicators and into the social domain. The world in which we operate has changed.

At the time of the Statistics Act 1993 and the debate about the 100-year rule, there was no such thing as access to data online. It was not perceived in the same way as it is now. Making information online means it is available to anybody in the world. It is a very different world to the one in which the 1993 decision was taken. I hope the committee can understand where we are coming from. We want to help to the greatest extent and work with the committee but we must do so within the existing legislation. If the Legislature decides to change the law on the access to census records, that is within its remit. If we are asked for our position, it is as we have outlined because of our core functions and responsibilities.