Venue: Department of the Taoiseach, Sycamore Room, Government Buildings, D02 R583
Date: Wednesday September 5, 2018 at 10.00am
Item 1: Minutes of NSB meeting June 6, 2018 (NSB 2018-4-2)
Item 2: NSB Strategy – Draft Review of Progress on Recommended Actions (NSB 2018-4-3)
Item 3: Director General’s progress report (NSB 2018-4-4)
Item 4: Update on CSO resources (NSB 2018-4-5)
Item 5: Lessons learnt from Revenue ISSCoP1 audit (NSB 2018-4-6) - Presentation by Paul Morrin
Item 6: Rollout of the QMF2 in the ISS (NSB 2018-4-7) - Presentation by Ken Moore
Item 7: Any other business
[1] Irish Statistical System Code of Practice
[2] Quality Management Framework
National Statistics Board
Minutes
Venue: Department of the Taoiseach, Government Buildings
Date: Wednesday 5 September 2018
Members present: Dr. Patricia O’Hara (Chairperson), Mr. Gerard O’Neill, Mr. John Shaw, Mr. John McCarthy, Dr. Eimear Cotter, Mr. Gerard Brady, Mr. John Martin and Mr. Pádraig Dalton.
Non-members in attendance: Paul Morrin (CSO Senior Management) and Ms. Claire Hanley (Secretary). Mr. Ken Moore (CSO) attended for item 6 of the agenda.
Item 1: Minutes of June 6, 2018 (NSB 2018-4-2)
The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed with two amendments.
Item 2: NSB Strategy – Draft Review of Progress on Recommended Actions (NSB 2018-4-3)
The Board discussed the draft mid-term review of the NSB Strategic Priorities for Official Statistics 2015-2020 which will be published to coincide with the NSB seminar in November 2018. Specific issues for discussion included the following:
Item 3: Director General’s progress report (NSB 2018-4-4)
The Director General briefed the Board on a number of recent developments within CSO and at European level. Specific issues were selected for further discussion.
Civil Service Renewal (CSR) Action 24 update: Improving how data is collected, managed and shared
The Board noted the progress on the Data Sharing and Governance Bill which is envisaged to be through the legislative process by the next update to the CSMB1. This legislation will greatly assist with the communications challenge around the National Data Infrastructure.
The work on the recommended approach for the Unique Business Identifier (UBI), based on the Revenue internal customer number, is ongoing with the UBI ‘proof of concept’ work being carried out in consultation with IBEC. The Board were informed of good progress on the technical work involved and noted the difficulty in the implementation of a UBI. The CSMB are due to endorse the UBI at their October meeting.
Pathfinder Projects and Horizontal Reports
The Board were updated on the ongoing work on pathfinder projects and newly commenced work on ‘horizontal reports’ with new resources allocated to projects, e.g. Brexit themed report. The Board discussed the importance of horizon scanning by the CSO to produce timely outputs on key statistical themes in order to support evidence-based decision making.
Macro-economic Statistics
A thematic output published by the CSO in August - The Financial Sector in Ireland’s National Accounts 2016 - gave users an overview of the contribution of the financial sector, and of its sub-sectors, to the Irish economy.
With regard to Trade Statistics, the Board discussed the possible impact of Brexit and the potential discontinuity caused by the UK trade data being captured using the customs Single Administrative Document (SAD) and not the Intrastat survey, which is currently the case.
Census of Population
The Board were informed of the Pilot Census, to be carried out on 23rd September 2018, to test new questions for possible inclusion in the 2021 census form. A Census Advisory Group (CAG) was convened, the membership of which was reflective of the key users of census data. The CAG examined the submissions and proposed new questions as well as changes to existing questions to be included in the pilot exercise. When complete, the results will be analysed and presented to the CAG. The Census 2021 questionnaire will be framed in the context of these findings and the CAG deliberations.
Crime Statistics
The CSO Director General will meet the new Garda Commissioner as soon as a meeting can be scheduled. The Board discussed the ongoing work on the Action Plan which sets out the criteria for the lifting of the existing reservation on the Crime statistics.
FRIBS2 and GNI Regulation
The Board discussed the progress on the debate around the exchange of microdata as proposed under the EU FRIBS Regulation. The Council Working Party on Statistics (CWPS) meeting in June discussed the proposal and Ireland was the only Member State to speak against the provision. Ultimately it appears that the requirement for exchange of intra-EU trade data will be carried and will most likely get through Council by end-2018.
Technology
The Board were updated on the ongoing work within the CSO in relation to technology and noted the additional strategic projects prioritised within the available budget for 2018.
Budget 2019
The CSO 2019 budget bid has been submitted and includes a series of technology related items which have been through a detailed scrutiny process in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Digital Government Oversight Unit (DGOU) prior to submission.
Item 4: Update on CSO resources (NSB 2018-4-5)
The Board were updated on CSO staffing resources and recruitment activities – both current and planned for 2018 – and discussed the emerging recruitment and retention issues throughout the ISS.
Item 5: Lessons learnt from Revenue ISSCoP3 audit (NSB 2018-4-6)
This item was postponed until the December Board meeting.
Item 6: Rollout of the QMF4 in the ISS (NSB 2018-4-7)
Ken Moore (CSO) presented an overview of the rollout of the Quality Management Framework (QMF) in the Irish Statistical System (ISS). The purpose of the QMF is to improve the clarity, consistency and ultimately the quality of statistical processes and outputs. The foundations of the QMF are based on the GSBPM5 which describes and defines the set of business processes needed to produce official statistics, and the ES CoP6 which sets the standard for developing, producing and disseminating European statistics. The QMF is now widening from a CSO focus to incorporating the ISS, beginning with the Department of Health.
The Board welcomed the work carried out on the project and discussed aspects of the process involved in rolling out the QMF to the wider ISS. The international basis for the QMF and the CSO’s role in supporting the wider statistical system were also discussed.
The next meeting of the Board will take place on December 5, 2018 at the Department of the Taoiseach, Government Buildings.
A NSB seminar entitled ‘A World Class Statistical System for Ireland – are we making progress?’ will take place on November 7, 2018 at the RCPI venue at No. 6 Kildare Street.