Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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67. To ask the Taoiseach if it is intended to publish the 1926 census of population; the target date for such publication; if legislation will be required to enable this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26583/16]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Censuses of Population carried out between 1926 and 1991 were undertaken under the 1926 Statistics Act which did not permit access to Census records at any time. The Statistics Act, 1993 repealed the 1926 and 1946 Statistics Acts, and provided for the release of census forms from these censuses 100 years after the date of the relevant Census. This means that the 1926 census records will be open to the public by the National Archives in the year 2026.

In considering the question of release of the 1926 Census, the Government has had to bear in mind any possible impact that early release might have on the confidence of the public in the present day guarantees of statistical confidentiality that the CSO gives to its respondents.

Confidentiality and privacy are rightly issues of great concern for the public. The legal guarantee of confidentiality that comes with the census, along with the untarnished reputation of the CSO in upholding this guarantee in practice, is important in persuading the public to disclose their private information on the census form. Great care must be taken to ensure that any change would not undermine public confidence in the CSO, which could have the potential to seriously damage the return of data by respondents.

It is also worth noting that the 1901-1911 census material was for the most part available in microfilm format. This made the digitisation process relatively cost effective and enabled delivery to be relatively efficient. The 1926 Census has never been micro-filmed and I understand that a significant level of work is required to scan and cross-index the individual return sheets.

In addition to the confidentiality considerations, the Government is of the view that providing for early release, before vital preparatory work has been undertaken is premature, and that there are a number of issues requiring further consideration before a decision to publish could be made.