Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. It is good to see gender representation. I quoted the CSO's opening statement yesterday: "good policies start with good data" and "Good data is the lifeblood of decision making and the basis for accountability." The CSO is the most important organisation or body to appear before us. In a time of post-truths and fake news, we must be able to rely on statistical information. An intelligent Government should form policy using statistical information. I will base my questions on that idea, so I will ask the witnesses to bear with me. The witnesses also stated that they aimed to turn statistics into information and knowledge for all. That is very good.

The CSO is before us with its accounts and no issues have been raised in that regard, so I will zone in on the risk register. If we cannot believe statistics, we are in serious trouble. I will revert to the Garda issue in a minute. Regarding the CSO's own risk register, what risks has it identified to assure the public that the quality of its work is further above par than any other organisation?