Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Central Statistics Office, CSO, is responsible for the collection, processing and publication of official statistics for economic, social and general conditions in Ireland. While the main focus is on meeting the statistical requirements of government, the information published by the CSO is also used by public bodies, business, universities, research institutes and the general public. There is a significant international dimension to the work of the CSO. EU institutions, the IMF, the OECD and other international bodies are all important users of official statistics. These bodies also have a significant role in defining and monitoring standards for the compilation of comparable information and the CSO subscribes to the standards set out in the UN fundamental principles of official statistics and the European statistics code of practice.

The net allocation in 2016 amounted to €82.081 million which included funding for the census of population. The net allocation in 2017 is €48.584 million. Funding is provided for core outputs and additional significant projects, including the publication of outputs from the 2016 census of population. The CSO is also implementing a long-term programme of change for how it organises household surveys in order that it will be able to meet future information needs as efficiently as possible. In 2017 it will publish about 300 releases and publications. All statistics are published online. Members of the public are increasingly aware of, and able to access, statistics and indicators on the social, economic and environmental issues which affect their daily lives. Recent well received publications include Life in 1916 Ireland: Stories from Statistics and Brexit: Ireland and the UK in Numbers.

The CSO's statement of strategy 2016 to 2019 gives priority to delivering the core statistics needed for policy, while keeping a strong focus on cost reduction. The office continues to meet all of its commitments under the public service reform programme and is implementing a programme of reform and continuous business process improvement in the collection and processing of statistics. The report from the economic statistics review group convened by the CSO has been published, with the CSO's response. The recommendations made in the group's report focus on how best to provide an insight for users into domestic activity, given the highly globalised nature of the Irish economy. The CSO will implement the recommendations made incrementally from mid-2017.

The CSO is taking a lead role in developing the Irish statistical system by working closely with other Departments and public bodies to promote a more coherent approach to meeting our data needs. It has developed a code of practice for the Irish statistical system. It also strongly promotes the development of a national data infrastructure which will provide for better co-ordination and greater exploitation of the rich data sources available across the system. It will also lead to a greater understanding of the importance of data in supporting policy and decision-making and delivering efficiencies in public service provision. Making better use of data throughout the public sector is an important part of public service reform and will contribute to more evidence-informed decision-making and better measurement of policy outcomes. Better co-ordination and greater use of administrative data also contribute to reducing the burden on data providers. Since 2008 the CSO has continued to reduce the response burden of its non-agricultural business surveys. When measured from 2008, the burden to 2015 decreased by 37.1%, exceeding the target reduction of 25% over this timeframe.

The CSO Vote for 2017 provides for a total of 755 staff. This represents a decrease from 843 in 2016 and reflects the cyclical nature of the work of the office, including the census of population. I commend the values and principles which inform the CSO's work. The CSO makes an important contribution to Ireland's public policy by providing a high quality and, most importantly, an independent statistical service.