Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

I will do what Deputy Ó Caoláin has requested and revert to him as quickly as I possibly can. The CSO's thinking was strongly examined, evaluated and its advice was taken in the end.

In an operation of the size and scale of the census, it is important to bear in mind that only questions that have been tested in the field, have proved to have worked and were acceptable to householders can be considered for inclusion in the 2011 census. Anyone involved in any research testing will know that if there is any ambiguity regarding the likely outcome of a particular question, it is better to discard it. The census form is delivered to every household in the State and every person in the State is required by law to answer the questions on the form. The questions on disability that have been tested in the field are the 2006 variant of the question and the new 2011 variant. It is not possible to include a question that has not been tested first. Some questions, depending on the words used, the way the question is worded and the categories included, etc., do not work or give reasonable results.

In this regard, the CSO feels the 2011 version of the question is a considerable improvement on the question asked in 2006 and has recommended it for inclusion. The Government does not believe it would be appropriate to reject the advice of the CSO and the census advisory group in this regard. There is little point in my view in raising expectations as to what can be achieved, particularly in light of the professional advice the Government has received.

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