Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 2: To ask the Taoiseach if he will encourage the Central Statistics Office to collate and present statistics on an all-Ireland basis in order to avoid presenting statistics, including historical statistics pre-dating partition, in a partitionist manner; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35938/06]

Tom Kitt (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The functions of the Central Statistics Office, as set out in section 10 of the Statistics Act 1993, include the collection, compilation, extraction and dissemination for statistical purposes of information relating to economic, social and general activities and conditions in the State. The CSO's publications reflect this remit. In certain instances, where long-term time series cover the period before the foundation of the State, such as long-term population trends, the statistics cover the same area to facilitate comparisons. The CSO has undertaken a number of initiatives in co-operation with the relevant Departments in Northern Ireland, including the publication of three thematic volumes of Ireland, North and South: A Statistical Profile. The 2000 edition was published in January 2001, followed by an on-line update in January 2003, while the 2003 report was published in January 2004. The most recent example of that co-operation was the inclusion of statistical information on Northern Ireland as an appendix to the 2006 edition of the CSO's Statistical Yearbook of Ireland.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I commend the Central Statistics Office on the quality of its work, particularly with regard to the compilation, preparation and presentation of the Statistical Yearbook of Ireland. However, has the Minister of State noted this otherwise useful and well-presented publication does not include a section which presents in a crisp and simple form the critical information on the all-Ireland population and a variety of other matters? One has to take the collective figures on the population of the Twenty-six Counties and then refer to the appendix in order to carry out the necessary calculations. For the record, the population of Ireland is in excess of 5.95 million people.

Given that the appendix now covers the Six Counties, will the Minister of State ask the CSO to include a simple tabular profile of the reality of the situation on the island of Ireland when it prepares future editions of the Statistical Yearbook of Ireland? It would not be an onerous task to do so and it would be of tremendous interest to people.

Historic information should also be presented. Has the Minister of State noted that, although partition was imposed in 1921, the publication's historical information dating back to 1841 refers to three provinces and the three Ulster counties, Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan, which are part of this State but does not present information on the overall population which censuses conducted between 1841 and 1921 would certainly have revealed? Does he agree this gives a false picture and will he use his office to appeal to the CSO to take on board my repeated appeals to him in this regard, as well as the views expressed by others? Does he further agree that the CSO should produce a section dedicated to the all-Ireland presentation of facts and figures pertaining to the people of the island of Ireland in all 32 counties?

Tom Kitt (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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Under the CSO's legal mandate, as Deputy Ó Caoláin will appreciate, the agency does not have jurisdiction to collect statistics from households or businesses in Northern Ireland and would not, therefore, be in a position to compile statistics on Northern Ireland. However, the Deputy is not suggesting that anyway. I agree that the maximum level of co-operation in this area is vital to the interests of the island of Ireland and I will convey his views to the CSO.

As I stated earlier, the agency has undertaken a number of initiatives in co-operation with the relevant Departments in Northern Ireland but we have different ways of collecting information. With regard to the comparability of statistics when compiling the North-South statistical profile, it is important to note that different concepts are used on either side of the Border to collect information and in the classification system used when publishing tables. For these reasons, some statistics are not directly comparable between Northern Ireland and the Republic. The CSO will consider, in consultation with the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, NISRA, the publication of a new edition of the North-South statistical profile when the full 2006 census of population results are available.

The Deputy is correct that, since the foundation of the State, tables showing long-term time series for the Twenty-six Counties have regularly been included in statistical publications. The 1926 census, for example, included figures dating back to 1821 in respect of the Twenty-six Counties, which allowed population figures to be presented on a comparative geographical basis. The main areas for which statistics were compiled prior to the foundation of the State were population, agriculture, births, deaths and marriages.