Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

For clarity’s sake, let us use the example of the 2016 census. The Government agreed the current NPF in 2018. A big debate we had in 2019, 2020 and 2021 related to whether the underlying population growth projection data and headroom growth data from the 2016 census were out of date by the time the 2018 national planning framework was being agreed. Is the Minister of State saying in the context of this amendment that, in that instance, it would not be the 2022 census but the subsequent census, and the final publication of the results thereof, that would be subject to the review of the underlying assumptions of the NPF? Is that what "second occurrence" means? How long does it ordinarily take from the conducting of the census to the publication of the final results? It seems to me there could be 18 months to 24 months between the date of the census and the date of the final publication. In fact, therefore, we could be looking at two census cycles plus two years, which seems bizarre given that huge parts of our debate regarding, for example, housing targets have related to whether the 2016 data was adequate. I do not want to open that debate but the Minister of State knows my views on it.