Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The National Statistics Board, NSB, is the body assigned to guide the strategic direction of the Central Statistics Office. The formation of the NSB, its functions and its membership are set out in the Statistics Act 1993. The director general of the CSO has sole and independent responsibility for the operation of the CSO and the delivery of the statistical work programme. The main function of the board is to guide, with the agreement of the Taoiseach, the strategic direction of the CSO by establishing priorities for the compilation and development of official statistics in Ireland.

These priorities are set out in the National Statistics Board five-year strategy Quality Information for All - Numbers Matter 2021. The strategy sets out a vision for a world-class system of official statistics using the best available data to provide high quality, timely, independent and readily accessible information that informs an understanding of Ireland’s society, our economy and the environment. The strategy emphasises the importance of the Central Statistics Office, CSO, and the Irish statistical system in remaining a trusted, independent source of data; staying relevant by monitoring the transformations taking place in the environment, society and the economy; linking data sources in an innovative way, in line with the requirements and protections of the Statistics Act and GDPR; and providing the best possible insights and communicating these insights in a clear way to users of official statistics and to the public generally.

The board meets at least five times a year to monitor the progress being made by the CSO and across the Irish statistical system in implementing this strategy. To date, the National Statistics Board has met four times this year: 26 January, 29 March, 11 May and 14 September. The board is scheduled to meet again on 7 December. The agenda and minutes of each meeting are published on the National Statistics Board, NSB, website. At each meeting the board is updated by the director general of the CSO on relevant developments within the office and across the Irish statistical system. The board regularly reviews the progress being made under each theme and priority of the NSB strategy and receives presentations on developments and innovations being made in the CSO and across the Irish statistical system.

Some examples of the board's activities during the year include organising discussions on statistics, data and information on disability and on labour market statistics and current and future data needs; visiting the CSO office in Cork where the board received a presentation on the safety of the person survey and met the social data collection team; receiving a presentation on new outputs from the environment and climate divisions and on the uses of environmental-related administrative data; and visiting the census in CSO Swords where the board was given an overview of census 2022.

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