Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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97. To ask the Taoiseach the date for the next planned census. [25324/25]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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On 1 March 2022, the Government formally decided to conduct a Census of Population in 2027, to be carried out by the Central Statistics Office (CSO). The exact census date has not yet been decided. It is however expected that census data collection will run in April and May 2027.

Census 2027 will be a major undertaking for the CSO as, for the first time in Irish history, the public will have the option to complete their census form online.

While the majority of the public are likely to avail of the new online option, it is expected that several hundred thousand households will opt to handwrite their census responses onto a paper form. Both online and paper census forms will be available in Irish and English. This is a complex digital transformation programme, which involves a fundamental redesign of how the census is conducted.

The CSO continues to advance preparatory work for Census 2027. The final date of the census, and the final content of the census form, will be subject to Government decision in due course.