Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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193. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht his plans for digitising the1926 census, which was the first held by the State and as a boost to the momentum of The Gathering; and if he will provide an update. [54922/13]

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, the Programme for Government contains a commitment to enabling the publication of the 1926 Census records, which is the next set of Census records available to the State following the previous publication of the 1901 and 1911 Censuses.

A 1926 Census Working Group has been formed, comprising officials from my Department, the National Archives and the Central Statistics Office (CSO), to consider how best to enable the publication of the 1926 Census records.

Under current legislation as set out in the Statistics Act 1993, census data must be withheld for 100 years. Following discussions with the CSO, it is clear that extensive preparatory work is required to facilitate the release of the data into the public domain. The CSO and the National Archives are prepared to facilitate the preparatory work on the 1926 Census records and I have asked the Working Group to see how this can be advanced. The Group is due to submit a feasibility report to me in the coming weeks.