Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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157. To ask the Taoiseach when the next collection of data for the census 2016 will take place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20016/15]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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158. To ask the Taoiseach the reason the census does not ask if a person has deaf-blindness as a disability; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20017/15]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 157 and 158 together.

The census is a major undertaking for the Central Statistics Office. The census will give a comprehensive picture of the social and living conditions of the country - information that only a census can provide in such complete geographical and fine grained detail. Similar to Census 2011 there will be detailed demographic results covering topics such as age profiles, employment, housing, families, migration, ethnicity, religion, health, education and commuting patterns. Census Enumerators will call at every doorstep of every home in Ireland to deliver in the region of 1.8 million census forms.

Given the recent budgetary environment that Ireland has experienced the Central Statistics Office conducted an extensive user consultation on the continuing need for a five-yearly census in Ireland. The response to that consultation showed overwhelming support for a five-yearly census and the enormous value that the data brings, with particular emphasis on the value of small area data that only the census can provide. The Government accordingly decided that a census will be undertaken in 2016. Census day will be 24 April 2016.

The expected cost of the 2016 Census is €50 million, spread over the 3 years of 2015-2017; the field staff pay is the largest component at some €26 million.

The CSO will recruit over 5,180 temporary staff to conduct the field operation, made up of 50 senior managers, 430 field supervisors and some 4,700 enumerators. The recruitment campaign began on 30 April with the advertisement of the 50 senior manager positions; interviews for these positions will take place in June and the first of these staff are due to take up duty on 28 September. The recruitment of the 430 field supervisors, who will be employed for 6 months on the census, will begin in mid-September and they are due to be appointed in early January 2016. Finally, the enumerators positions will be advertised at the end of December and they will be appointed for a 10 week period from mid-March until the end of May 2016. Applications for all positions on the census are being accepted through an on-line application form on the CSO web site and are being advertised in advance through Intreo, on Publicjobs.ie and in the national press.

The CSO works hard to ensure that the information collected and provided from the census remains current, relevant and of maximum use to the public. It has been common practice in advance of each census to conduct a public consultation on possible new questions and changes to existing questions, which are then considered by a specially convened Census Advisory Group in advance of testing in the field in the form of a pilot survey of some 12,000 dwellings. Unfortunately given the very tight budget circumstances in 2013 and 2014, with constraints on resources right across the public sector, it was not possible to pursue this route for census 2016. Accordingly the 2016 census will be run as a ‘no-change’ census with the questions on the 2016 questionnaire remaining unchanged from those used in the 2011 census, with the exception of the question on marital status.

The format of the question on disability used in 2011, and being repeated in 2016, was agreed by the Census Advisory Group which was established to assist the CSO in developing the 2011 questionnaire. This group comprised representatives of central and local government, the social partners, universities, research bodies and other users of census data, along with the relevant CSO personnel. The group reviewed over 90 submissions for new questions or changes to existing questions during the course of their work. In addition a specific sub-group, comprised of representatives from the National Disability Authority, the Equality Authority, the Disability Federation of Ireland and the National Federation of Voluntary Bodies was convened to consider the disability-related questions on the census form. The current format of the disability question was tested successfully in the April 2009 Census Pilot Survey and the Government subsequently accepted the advice of the CSO and the Census Advisory Group to accept this format of the question.

The exact format of the question is outlined below, and persons can choose multiple categories of disabilities. As censuses of population are traditionally held at five-yearly intervals in Ireland it is intended that should there be a census in 2021 a full public consultation on the questions to be asked will be conducted in advance.

Q. 16. Do you have any of the following long-lasting conditions or difficulties?

(a) Blindness or a serious vision impairment Yes No

(b) Deafness or a serious hearing impairment Yes No

(c) A difficulty with basic physical activities such as walking, climbing stairs, reaching, lifting or carrying Yes No

(d) An intellectual disability Yes No

(e) A difficulty with learning, remembering or concentrating Yes No

(f ) A psychological or emotional condition Yes No

(g) A difficulty with pain, breathing, or any other chronic illness or condition Yes No

Q.17. If ‘Yes’ to any of the categories specified in Question 16, do you have any difficulty in doing any of the following?

(a) Dressing, bathing or getting around inside the home Yes No

(b) Going outside the home alone to shop or visit a doctor’s surgery Yes No

(c) Working at a job or business or attending school or college Yes No

(d) Participating in other activities, for example leisure or using transport Yes No

In conclusion, I am happy to report that preparations for the 2016 census are progressing well and that with the full participation of the public at the time of the census the results will be an important input into planning the future of this country.