Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

Does the Minister of State expect a significant variation between the preliminary and final figures and when exactly will the final figures be produced? I understand from the CSO that its method of enumeration is now so good that the difference between the final figures and the preliminary figures could be insignificant. In that case why can the final figures not be made available much sooner? Is the Government delaying their publication in order to deal with the population divergence and breach of the Constitution, as shown by the preliminary figures?

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