NATIONAL STATISTICS BOARD

AGENDA 

Thursday September 11^th, 2025

Room 301, Government Buildings 

 10.00 to 13.30 

National Statistics Board                                                                                           Minutes

The meeting took place in Room 301, Government Buildings, Dublin

Date:     Thursday, 11^th September 2025, 10am to 1.30pm

Members present: Dr. Clíona Saidléar (Chairperson), Dr. Martina Lawless, Ms. Eithne Fitzgerald, Mr. Jim Scheer, Mr. John McGarry, Mr. John Shaw and Ms. Jennifer Banim

Non-members in attendance from CSO:  Paul Morrin, Ciaran Dooly¹²³, Elaine O’Mahoney³, Donal Kelly⁴*, Felix Coleman⁴* and Jessica Coyne⁴* and Brian Cahill (Secretary)

Non-members in attendance from Dept. of Justice: 

Gurchand Singh⁴, Mick O’Donnell⁴ and Paul Rockley⁴

Apologies: Dr. Emma Cunningham

• Attended for items 3
• Attended for items 4
• Attended for items 5
• Attended for items 6

* Attended remotely

Item 1:  Minutes of NSB meeting June 5^th, 2025 (NSB 2025-4-2)

The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed.

Items 2: CSO Director General’s Report to NSB (NSB 2025-4-3)

The Board congratulated Fiona O’Riordan on her promotion to Assistant Director General of Social Statistics in CSO.

The Director General’s Report was taken as read. The Board engaged in further discussion on several key areas highlighted in the report:

The Board heard that:

• Ecosystem Service Accounts publication – Flood Control Analysis 2025: First of its kind in Europe, providing new data and insights within an existing framework.
• Government Expenditure by Activity and Services (COFOG): Publication delayed until early 2026 but expected to be a valuable and significant release that requires additional time to complete.
• Pilot Survey on Social Cohesion: Planned for Q1 2026 as part of UNCECE Taskforce work.
• Non-User Survey: Positive responses to questions on Trust in CSO; however, learnings were noted regarding accessibility of outputs to different cohorts.
• Relationship with the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC): Quarterly meetings now well established, with constructive cooperation. CSO has also presented on governance to the DPC and DPC will present to the CSO’s General Management Forums (GMF) conference.
• Collaboration with NISRA: At the most recent meeting opportunities for further cooperation beyond tourism and population were identified. The potential collaboration on productivity, demography, and labour market statistics were discussed.
• Frontier Publications (Residential Housing Vacancy and Characteristics of Property Purchasers): Planned for September, with Revenue engaged regarding methodology and data. This may become a regular output.

The Board discussed the potential of administrative health data, focusing on the data holdings of the Health Research Board and the HSE. While recognising the difficulties of linking such data, members suggested that HSE could be included in the NDI Champions Group, and the possibility of ISSCOP certification for HSE was considered. It was noted that HSE data remains siloed, but work is underway with CSO to improve its usability and linkage. The forthcoming EU Health Data Space was recognised as an opportunity for further progress in this area.

The Board discussed how PPSN management is the responsibility of the Department of Social Protection. The Board noted that only bodies with a legal right are permitted to use PPSN and debated whether the current situation is hindering in the provision of public services and downstream statistical insight and whether there is a statistical need to legislate for wider access. Barriers to linkage, the potential role of the Equality Data Strategy, and implications of the EU Digital Wallet were also considered. It was agreed that the NSB would return to this issue at a future meeting.

The Board noted the delay that can arise between data collection and the provision of microdata to researchers. It was discussed whether the RMF should be incorporated into the production model to expedite access, and members acknowledged that CSO Management Board must carefully deliberated on competing views relating to the provision of access to researcher microdata given the sensitivity of some datasets.

The Board reflected on the recent publication of new population projections from the Department of Finance, bringing to three the number of national sources now available. While the Department worked with CSO on methodology, the Board expressed concern that multiple sources risked creating confusion among users and diverting attention from the more important policy discussions that the projections are intended to support.

The Board considered the content and structure of the DG Reports received in advance of each meeting. It was noted that the reports are designed to highlight strategic developments that advance the CSO’s overall strategy, rather than to provide a comprehensive account of all workstreams. Members recognised the value of this strategic focus but observed that the limited detail on ongoing core work can make it challenging to fully assess risk. The Board also acknowledged, however, that its role is to provide strategic guidance to the CSO and to official statistics more broadly, rather than to manage operational risk within the Office.

Item 3: CSO Statement of Strategy

CSO Statement of Strategy Development

The Board received an update on progress in developing the CSO’s Statement of Strategy (SoS). This will serve as the mid-term strategy within the CSO’s long-term Vision 2030. The Board heard how the SoS informs directorate-level strategies and aligns with other key strategies, including the CSO’s Data Strategy, Technology Strategy, and People Strategy, all of which translate into implementable Divisional Action Plans (DAPs) with defined timelines.

In discussion, the Board considered the varying maturity of Departmental Data Strategies, noting that approaches differ depending on each Department’s stage of data development and areas of focus. Members recognised that the CSO’s ongoing work on standards and skills across the system will help to promote greater consistency and alignment in the development of the data strategies.

The Board also noted the CSO’s significant input into the Public Sector Data Strategy. It was further reported that the ten data standards developed and published by the CSO are proving highly valuable, with departments and agencies actively adopting them into their systems.

Item 4: External Environment

The Board discussed developments in the external environment of Official Statistics, noting recent changes in the US Federal Chief Statistician and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as well as the recent publication of the independent review of the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS). The Board reflected on the factors that contributed to reduced quality in some ONS outputs in recent times and emphasised the importance of maintaining a strong focus on the core work of official statistics. It was noted that investment in core outputs must remain a priority, even as new products and methods are developed.

The content and recommendations of the external reports were discussed and considered in the context of official statistics in Ireland. The Board also reflected on the extent to which the CSO has the structures in place to ensure risks can be identified and escalated effectively through the chain of command. It was noted that the CSO has robust planning and governance frameworks, underpinned by the values set out in the Statement of Strategy. As well as Governance Board, chaired at Assistant Director level, Division Heads meet bi-annually with senior management where issues can be raised. There is a strong culture of open and challenging discussion at the Senior Management Group, where emerging risks are regularly raised and considered.

The Board recognised CSO’s commitment to employing skilled staff, investing in training, maintaining strong methodological standards, and fostering a culture where staff are encouraged to raise concerns. While the CSO does not have external accreditation comparable to that in the UK, it is subject to regular reviews from Eurostat in specific statistical domains, an ESSCOP peer review every five years, and oversight through the Organisational Capability Review.

The Board welcomed CSO’s continued emphasis on prioritising core statistics, with new developments viewed as complementary benefits to this important work.

Item 5: CSO statistical and organisational planning and governance processes

The Board received a presentation from Ealine O’Mahoney on the CSO’s governance structures, outlining how they have evolved in recent years and how they will continue to develop with the introduction of the NIS2 Directive.

The Board heard how the CSO maintains separate Risk and Audit Committees, with a dedicated Risk Board in place to address statistical matters. Due to its independence and the absence of an external board or operationally responsible Minister, significant authority is devolved to CSO’s senior management. In this context, external assurance mechanisms—including ESSCoP peer reviews, Eurostat subject-matter reviews, and structured engagement with users and formal user groups—were recognised as particularly important.

Members further agreed that a clear, publicly accessible representation of the CSO’s governance structures would be valuable in reinforcing and maintaining public trust. Such a resource could usefully supplement the existing Trust and Transparency section of the CSO website.

Item 6:  Department of Jistice – Analytics, and the wider Public Sector

The Board receive presentations on Criminal Justice Statistics from the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration and CSO.

Title: DoJ Analytics, and the wider Public Sector

Attendees from Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration

• Gurchand Singh – Head (PO) of the Data & Analytics Unit (DAU)
• Mick O’Donnell – Statistician (CSO seconded), DAU
• Paul Rockley – Statistician (CSO seconded), DAU

Presentation: CSO & the Criminal Justice Data Ecosystem

Attendees from Central Statistics Office

• Donal Kelly – Senior Statistician, Social Analysis
• Felix Coleman – Statistician
• Jessica Coyne – Statistician
• Jim Dalton - Statistician 

The Board noted the limited nature of PPSN coverage within criminal justice data and the absence of a clear legal basis for using PPSN as an identifier across such datasets. In this context, the CSO’s role in linking administrative data and providing secure research access through the Virtual Data Rooms was recognised as especially important.

The Board discussed the importance of formal governance agreements between departments and agencies to support data sharing and linkage. It was noted that the Department of Justice often requests specific analyses from its agencies and expressed a preference for all data to be provided to the CSO, enabling more comprehensive strategic analysis and research.

The Board reflected on the reality that Departments, agencies, and other public sector bodies primarily collect data for operational purposes, with statistical production, research, and policy analysis as downstream benefits. Under operational pressures, PSBs may not prioritise or appreciate the statistical value of their data. The Board agreed that the CSO must continue to communicate and demonstrate the importance of these wider uses.

The Board considered the potential value of producing a consolidated statistical report covering the entire criminal justice system, coordinated by the Department, to provide an overarching view of the sector. In addition, members discussed the possibility of developing a dedicated data strategy for the criminal justice sector, which could establish a common strategic direction for all bodies working in this space.

The Board discussed the Domestic Violence and Abuse Survey (DVAS) and the EU Gender-Based Violence Survey (EU-GBV), both scheduled for 2027. The CSO has advised CUAN and the Department of Justice that it will not be feasible to meet the full data requirements of both surveys within a single instrument and timeframe. Given the extensive and differing requirements of each, the CSO will meet with CUAN and the Department in the coming weeks to provide a detailed comparison of the two surveys and to seek clarity on national priorities. 

Item 7:  AOB

The dates of NSB for the remainder of 2025 and 2026 were reviewed.

Item 8:  Private Business

The Board members had a private discussion.