Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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144. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the preparatory work that has been done to date for digitisation and uploading of the 1926 census in line with the Statistics Act 1993; and the funding allocation that has been allotted in respect of this important project. [49070/21]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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The Central Statistics Office (CSO) is responsible for the gathering of census data in Ireland. It has published data taken from the 1926 Census in 10 volumes as follows:-

- Volume 1 - Population, area and valuation of each DED and each larger Unit of Area

- Volume 2 - Occupations

- Volume 3 - Religion and birthplaces

- Volume 4 - Housing

- Volume 5 - Ages, orphanhood and conjugal conditions

- Volume 6 - Industrial status

- Volume 7 - Industries

- Volume 8 - Irish language

- Volume 9 - Dependency

- Volume 10 - General Report

These volumes can be viewed on the CSO website at the following link: Census 1926 Reports - CSO - Central Statistics Office.

Sections 33 and 35 of the Statistics Act 1993 allow for the release of information gathered by a Census that relates either directly or indirectly to an identifiable person 100 years after the date that the census was taken. As the 1926 Census was taken on 18 April 1926, this information can be made available from 18 April 2026.

Making the details of individuals and households from the 1926 Census available digitally will require a significant volume of work that will take several years to complete. Work will be required to collate, conserve, index and digitise the original census returns. Nevertheless, I anticipate that the information relating to individuals taken in the 1926 Census will be ready for public release at the end of the statutory period in 2026 and a capital allocation of €5m has been provided for that purpose. Officials from my Department, which includes the National Archives, have already carried out detailed preliminary examinations of the work required.