Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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1222. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if her attention has been drawn to a campaign to have the 1926 census records released earlier than planned to facilitate ancestry researchers; if this has been considered; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44930/18]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I am aware that the 1926 Census is the next full set of Census records available to the State following the 1911 returns.  The 1926 Census was the first undertaken by the independent State, just four years after the Treaty was signed and three years after the Civil War.  I understand that this is a historic collection of great value and interest for historians, researchers, the general public and Diaspora.

Census collection and census records are provided for in the Statistics Act 1993. Responsibility for this legislation falls under the aegis of the Office of the Taoiseach.

Under sections 33 and 35 of that Act, information gathered by the Census which relates either directly or indirectly to an identifiable person cannot be released until 100 years after the date of the relevant census.

I have been informed that making the 1926 Census available to the public will require a significant volume of work which will involve both the conservation and the digitisation of the data in the individual 1926 Census forms.  This will take several years and my Department will provide assistance in this regard. I would hope, therefore that the Census will be ready for public release at the end of the statute period in 2026 while some additional statistical material may become available in advance of that date.