Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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1. To ask the Taoiseach the date for the next planned census. [26980/25]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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On 1 March 2022, the Government formally decided to conduct a census of population in 2027 to be carried out by the Central Statistics Office, CSO. The exact census date has not yet been decided. It is expected, however, that census data collection will run in April and May of 2027. Census 2027 will be a major undertaking for the CSO as for the first time in Irish history, the public will have the option of completing the census form online. This is a complex digital transformation programme that involves a fundamental redesign of how the census is conducted. While the majority of the public is likely to avail of the new online option, it is expected that several hundred thousand households will opt to handwrite their census responses on a paper form. Both online and paper census forms will be available in Irish and English. The CSO continues to advance preparatory work for census 2027. The final date of the census and the final content of the census form will be subject to Government decision in due course.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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It is vital that we have information about the people we have here and the level of need. We all understand the issues, be they housing or disability. It makes sense that the means of acquiring this information be streamlined so I hope this happens perfectly. Sometimes we must deal with legacy issues involving funding. This is an issue in Louth, where I am from, particularly with regard to the HSE, and the Minister of State's bailiwick of mental health. We have lower bed provision in Louth and Meath than is the case across this State. We need to see movement on the promised ten-bed extension in the department of psychiatry in Drogheda. I welcome the interaction with the Minister of State as regards the Mental Health Bill. We have dealt comprehensively with the issues as regards ensuring people can be admitted to be treated and can get the treatment that is necessary. I have seen where we did not have room in the department of psychiatry in Drogheda. I will not go into any detail but I have heard of someone who was put in a facility in Dublin awaiting space. The space did not open and the patient was released before a proper aftercare plan was produced. We have a very specific issue. It is about having the information, dealing with it and those legacy issues and ensuring we cover all the bases.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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What is the point of having the CSO provide figures and details regarding the population across the country if the Government keeps ignoring those figures when it comes to the delivery of key services? The CSO tells us how many older people we have, but we are not providing enough nursing home beds for them. The CSO tells us the number of younger people, but we are not providing enough school places for those children. We know that the CSO gives information about a cohort of people who are looking to buy houses, but the Government refuses to provide the necessary housing for them. There are certain counties, particularly in the mid-east, that have seen their population radically increase over time yet Government funding per capita of those counties has not kept pace. Meath has the lowest number of doctors per capita in the country. I am the chair of the Save Navan Hospital campaign and I can tell the Minister of State that a significant number of people who go to the accident and emergency unit in Our Lady's Hospital in Navan are people who cannot get a doctor. Pregnant women who cannot get a doctor have contacted me. People living in Meath for 20 years are still going to their doctor in Dublin because they cannot get a doctor in Meath. I know a person who rang 12 doctors' surgeries in one day trying to get an appointment but could not get into any of them. In the past few days, a doctor in Trim found that her book filled up in the space of half a day as soon as she opened. There is a radical disconnect between the delivery of services and the information the CSO gives us and that has to change.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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It is really important that when we have CSO information, we use it to plan for services in areas. I look at my own county of Meath, which has the lowest number of mental health beds, the lowest number of GPs and the lowest number of gardaí per population; has some of the largest class sizes in the State; and has the lowest number of playgrounds per population. The issue of GPs has been in the news in the past 24 hours. I have written to the Minister for Health and the HSE about a case in Ashbourne where, thankfully, we have a new GP. This GP's practice is at risk because they are not being allowed access to the GMS scheme because they are waiting for a lift to be installed in the practice. A reasonable accommodation has been made in the meantime but the GMS scheme is a firm "No". This needs to change. We are desperately in need of GPs so when we have one, we need to hold on them and I ask the Minister of State to look at that.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The question asked the date for the next planned census. All three Deputies have raised issues relating to health and I am not in a position to answer them. What I will take on board is the importance of the CSO and the data it provides. It is very useful to plan for services.

Deputy Tóibín said we do not have enough nursing home beds. I am very proud to stand here, as the former Minister of State with responsibility for older people over the past five years, and say that we have the same number of people in nursing homes today under fair deal as we did in 2019. This is because of the Government's investment in home care, day care and meals on wheels, which means that people are able to live for longer in their own homes and communities with the correct wraparound supports. We have capacity in private nursing homes of between 5% and 10% where we do not have capacity in HSE-run community nursing homes. I accept that there may not be capacity in the Deputy's area. It might be 20 or 30 miles down the road but there is some capacity there.

It is important to note that we are planning for a move to an online census with the next census. In September 2022, the CSO undertook a small proof-of-concept exercise that explored the feasibility of using an online platform to collect census-type responses. The CSO ran a pilot survey between 2 September and 25 October 2024. The survey was voluntary and took place in 20,000 homes across six counties. Its main objectives were to test the new online census form, the new processes and the technology that were developed to deliver an online census and new and updated census questions. Further development of the data collection and processing systems is under way, taking into account the findings of the census pilot survey and the need to scale up for a full census. Extensive testing of census processes and technologies will take place in 2026. I am happy to take any questions regarding the census.