Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If there are other such issues, it is in the interest of us all that they be resolved. I think we are all mature now and cop that this should be done. I would applaud anybody for bringing them to the Minister for Defence, maybe, to get them resolved. I thank Deputy Ó Laoghaire for his contribution.

As for the Army records and the archives, Deputy Martin Kenny and I share a very interesting history. I refer to the divisions of the past 100 years, with partition and so on. My grandfather, James Feely, was imprisoned and released on the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. He would not have survived only for John A. Kearney, who was the district inspector in Tralee barracks and the person who arrested Roger Casement. When the Black and Tans came to assassinate my grandfather, he was saved by District Inspector Kearney. Then, in this very Chamber, Austin Stack, who was supposed to have released District Inspector Kearney from the barracks in Tralee, came into the Dáil and made spurious allegations that he engaged in mistreatment. He and his family had to leave Boyle overnight and went to London, where he rose to the rank of, I think, second in command in the Metropolitan Police. However, he was due to be put in charge of An Garda Síochána. Michael Collins had written to him to ask him. It just shows you that history and historical facts sometimes are missed. Roger Casement, from what I hear, was a very good friend of or was well treated by District Inspector Kearney. District Inspector Kearney was a republican who left the door open for Austin Stack to release him and, from what I hear, Austin Stack bottled it and years later came into the Dáil. That is recorded in a book, possibly one about the Kerry landings but I am not sure. I like to put little things like that on the record sometimes.

In the 15 years since the previous census was taken, in 1911, Ireland had gone through a dramatic change, starting with the Lock-out of 1913, then the First World War from 1914 to 1918, the Easter Rising of 1916 and the War of Independence from 1919 to 1921, which led to the Civil War of 1922 to 1923 and the partition of Ireland, starting in 1921. Just three years on from the Civil War and five years since partition was enacted, it will be fascinating to see what happened to families within what was then known as the Irish Free State. It will be a poignant moment for many people of Irish ancestry, not just here but across the globe.

With that in mind, I am glad to confirm to the House that the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin, has committed €5 million for work on the 1926 census project to commence, thereby enabling the release of the 1926 census as scheduled in April 2026, in accordance with the Statistics Act 1993. I believe that in order for this work to happen, the National Archives, in collaboration with the Central Statistics Office, CSO, need the time they now have to ensure that this vital record set is correctly conserved, digitally imaged and transcribed. The 1926 census can then be made available to the public on 18 April 2026.

This Bill is well intentioned. I must admit, though, that the timeline would be a significant challenge. Given the growing interest in genealogy and the heightened public awareness of the history of the early years of the 20th century, the only realistic method of making the census widely available to the public is to digitise it and place it online. Census 1926 is currently the property of the CSO. The National Archives will work with the CSO under the terms of a joint memorandum of understanding, MOU, that enables the National Archives to undertake the complex work associated with providing public access in digital form to the census returns in April 2026. The MOU will cover the following areas: that legal control of the records remains with the CSO; that permission is granted to the National Archives to work on the records in the meantime; that assurances are provided to the CSO in respect of the work to be carried out on the records and the conservation and security of the records, including the requirement that the forms and images do not leave the State; that there is recognition or appointment of officers of statistics within the National Archives; what the considerations to controls around contractors viewing the records are; and an agreement that the MOU can be updated if required with the consent of both parties.

As the history of census taking is so fascinating, it may interest the House to know that the censuses of population held between 1926 and 1991, inclusive, were carried out under the Statistics Act 1926, which did not permit any access to census records, at any time. The years these censuses were taken were 1926, 1936, 1946, 1951, 1956, 1961, 1966, 1971, 1979, 1981, 1986 and 1991. Deputies will note that from the 1946 census onwards, a census was taken every five years instead of ten years. The Deputies may also have noticed that the 1976 census did not in fact occur until 1979. According to the CSO, this was due to a belief by the then Government that a census every five years was not required, but a few years later there was a change of mind on this. The next census to be postponed was the 2001 census owing to the foot-and-mouth crisis at the time. It was instead taken in 2002. Now, because of Covid-19, the 2021 census has been postponed until 2022.

The Statistics Act 1993 repealed the Statistics Acts of 1926 and 1946 and provided for the release of census forms for these censuses 100 years after the date of the relevant census. At the time, this retrospective introduction of the 100-year exemption was seen by some as undermining the original guarantee of confidentiality given to householders. However, it was generally accepted that 100 years was a reasonable compromise in all the circumstances, including having regard to increasing life expectancy.

Usually with censuses, the role of the National Archives of Ireland is limited to ensuring preservation of the paper format census returns. Concerns about exposure to risk or danger inform the approach to archival management. Access to census 1926 is allowed only to officers of the CSO and designated staff of the National Archives who are made temporary officers of statistics by the CSO director in order to undertake specified archival management and preservation work. The memorandum of understanding between both bodies facilitates the staff in the National Archives to begin work on the 1926 returns. By way of comparison, the digitisation of the 1901 and 1911 census returns, with the accompanying online platform that opened up the census returns to a global audience, cost more than €3 million. The work on making these records available took more than four years to complete and was done on a phased basis. This does not take into account the microfilming of the original 1901 and 1911 census return. Under agreements made with the Genealogical Society of Utah, a body operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - the Mormons - the 1901 and 1911 original census returns were microfilmed at various dates in the 1960s and 1990s. From the mid-1990s, due to preservation and security concerns, only the microfilm copies were made available for public inspection.

This microfilming work meant that the digitisation and transcription processes, as well as the online element, could be carried out in a shorter timeframe. It also meant that the cost of digitally imaging the individual census forms was minimised. The former Public Record Office of Ireland, the predecessor of the National Archives, had also carried out archival processing to organise, clean, folder and catalogue the returns prior to them being microfilmed. To reiterate, this is work that must now be undertaken for the 1926 census.

By way of example I will outline to the Deputy the precise and delicate nature of the work that the National Archives working in conjunction with the CSO will have to undertake. To enable the safe, accurate and complete digitisation of census 1926, I will outline some of the actions that will need to be carried out. Census portfolio side stitches will be removed to ensure each individual census return form can be separated, safely handled and digitised. Any dirt present will be removed to ensure that all handwritten text is legible and clear to read. All creases and folds will be removed to ensure that all handwritten text is legible and clear to read. All tears will be removed to ensure that further damage does not occur and the census return form can be safely handled during digitisation. All of the census portfolio cover boards will be retained and the unique order of the census return forms will also be retained. Following digitisation, secure archival housing for the census return forms for long-term archival storage will be required. This may include vacuum sealing the records post-digitisation for security and long-term preservation.

There is immense public interest in the 1926 census and in order to safeguard the security of the data, the highest IT security standards will need to be in place to prevent any data breaches prior to public release. A contract with specialist IT services will need to be put in place to make sure the data is secure and all servers with images and transcription data are located in Ireland. The ICT infrastructure will be put in place for the storage of images and inputting of data first, so that the highest security standards and related measures can be implemented and maintained throughout the project. There may be overlaps with elements.

The Government is committed to seeing this detailed project through, but recognises that the work associated with such a large project is vast in scale and complex in nature and it will require the length of time envisaged in order to make it happen.I must reiterate that the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin, fully understands and appreciates the Deputy's reasons for bringing forward this Bill. It is based on noble sentiments. In practice, however, there are significant data protection issues which must be addressed in advance of the publication of the personal details of individuals and families.

The CSO operates under the Statistics Act 1993, which sets out the mandate of the office and the standards by which it must conduct its business. The Deputy will agree that independent, objective, trusted and high-quality official statistics are the cornerstone of this. Due to the nature of its work, the CSO is entrusted with a large quantity of extremely sensitive information by its respondents, both business and person-based. The legal guarantee it provides to these respondents is central to its ability to collect this information and also central to many of the official statistics it regularly compiles.

In 1993, it was generally accepted that 100 years was a reasonable compromise in all the circumstances, including having regard to increasing life expectancy and the need to protect the data of all individuals. As we know, there are many more people now living to more than 100 years. The Data Protection Commissioner will have to be consulted on the matter, irrespective of when the personal details in the 1926 census are published.

I again welcome Deputy Ó Snodaigh's contribution. I am aware of my duty to ensuring the integrity of the process by which this material will eventually be released to the public. I am also conscious of the need to ensure the vital work of the CSO is not inhibited and any data protection concerns are adequately dealt with. The aim of making the 1926 census returns available for everyone in the timeliest manner is one on which every Member of this House can agree. This work is under way and I know the Deputy will welcome that news. This timed amendment will allow for the necessary care to be taken when assessing this proposed Bill.

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