Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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178. To ask the Taoiseach his views in relation to the process of data collection and handling of census forms that the Data Protection Commissioner should investigate if, in fact the current processes in place are current and compliant with EU and National GDPR regulation; and if people's information is being handled by the CSO in line with best practices. [20182/22]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The 2022 Population and Housing Census is conducted in accordance with EU Regulation 763/2008 which obliges all EU Member States to conduct a regular census of population. The full list of data to be collected was considered and approved by the Government in July 2019 (the Census was subsequently deferred from April 2021 to April 2022 as a result of COVID-19).

Under Section 25 of the Statistics Act 1993, all people resident in Ireland on Census Night were obliged to complete a Census Return, with the Statistics (Census of Population) Order, 2020 providing for the census to be held on 3 April 2022. It also details the information to be provided and the persons required to provide it. Each item of personal data requested from householders on Census Night in accordance with this Statutory Instrument will be aggregated so that no individuals can be identified in any of the Census outputs.

A Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) was carried out to ensure that the data is being collected within the legal parameter of Data Protection Legislation, including GDPR. The CSO engaged with the Data Protection Commission (DPC) in producing this DPIA and adopted all recommendations made by that Office.