Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The census was correctly postponed because of the pandemic but we cannot hold off on it any longer because the data are central to all our decision-making. The date is now fixed for April 2022, as the Minister of State indicated, and I presume that is an absolute decision. If that is the case, when will recruitment for enumerators and extra staff that will clearly be needed this time around begin? Is there a plan to do this much quicker and will the process be paper-based?

The census will contain eight new questions on matters ranging from renewable energy to smoke alarms, childcare, working from home, commuting and a range of other matters. Is that definite? In light of the pandemic and the major changes made to our society, will there be other new questions based on the changes we experienced in Ireland? The question on religion is still unclear, asking what is a person's religion before listing a number of faiths, having a space in which a person can write in a religion or the option of stating "no religion". Would it be more accurate to ask if a person is just religious?

I have a question I would like the Minister of State to answer directly. Finally, and very important for all of us here, given the fact that the census will now be April 2022 and under legislation there is a requirement for a constituency commission to set the constituency boundaries in the country - I know from my time as Minister that this is fixed in time - will this commence on time? This is particularly relevant for the preliminary census. It would be totally unfair and unbalanced to have the next election with current constituency boundaries if we did not take on board the new census data.

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