NATIONAL STATISTICS BOARD

Venue: Virtual Meeting

Date: Thursday February 11, 2021 at 10.00am

Agenda

National Statistics Board

Minutes

The meeting took place remotely using video conferencing software.

Date:     Wednesday 2nd December 2020

Members present: Ms. Anne Vaughan (Chairperson), Ms. Eithne Fitzgerald, Mr. John Martin, Dr. Eimear Cotter, Mr. Gerard Brady, Mr. John Shaw, Mr. John McCarthy and Mr. Pádraig Dalton.

Non-members in attendance:  Mr. Paul Morrin, Ms. Francesca Kay (CSO Senior Management) and Ms. Claire Hanley (Secretary).

Item 1:  Minutes of NSB meeting December 2, 2020

The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed.   

Item 2: CSO Director General’s Report to NSB 

The Director General briefed the Board on a number of recent developments within CSO. The Board welcomed the update and some issues were discussed further, these included:    

• Access to the COVID-19 data hub which was established in March 2020 to support statistical collaboration between the CSO and organisations involved in the Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group (IEMAG) of the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), will be broadened to health researchers from academic institutions to facilitate statistical analysis in the area of COVID-19.
• The ‘COVID 19 Deaths and Cases’ report resumed weekly publication in December and included work to extract the distorting effect of the daily cases backlog that arose over the Christmas period which helped assist decision makers and keep the public informed.
• The CSO are due to receive data from the HSE Covid-19 Vaccination Information System which will further facilitate statistical data needs.
• The Board was updated on the further expansion of the Irish Government Statistical Service (IGSS); and the CSO’s role as observer on the Data Sharing and Governance Board.
• The Board discussed the challenges for trade statistics data collection due to Brexit and stressed the importance of effectively communicating to users the impact on data quality, for big issues such as Brexit.
• The Board expressed concern over the impact of the introduction of a new Labour Force Survey (LFS) questionnaire for Q1 2021 on foot of the Integration of European Social Statistics Framework Regulation (IESS). This will result in a number of changes to the information collected in the LFS which the Board felt would introduce a discontinuity in the timeseries. The CSO plans to make available a consistent timeseries in the future.
• The Board looked for clarification on the decision not to run field trials for the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIACC). Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the CSO, with the agreement of all stakeholders, will use simulated test cases to test the survey questionnaire and instrument.
• The Board discussed high-level planning which is currently underway for the 2026 Census including a multi-mode approach to data collection.

Item 3: Quality, Methodology & Technology Directorate at CSO 

The newly appointed Assistant Director General, Francesca Kay, presented an overview of the Quality, Methodology and Technology Directorate at CSO. This included plans for 2021 in areas such as data infrastructure and access; digital first opportunities for data collection; modernisation of office tools and supporting flexible working such as remote access; and supports for census taking in the future.

The Board discussed opportunities including:

• a ‘digital first’ approach to data collection, including internet options, and expressed a view that data collection would need to be a multi-modal approach;
• the role of cloud storage to support developments including multi-modal data collection and the need for CSO to consider its strategy in terms of cloud storage in the organisation in the future; and
• questionnaire design and the importance of testing and use of behavioural scientists by the CSO.

Item 4:  Data Steward Role for CSO

The Board welcomed and discussed the paper on ‘Data Stewardship in Ireland’ which describes the leadership and coordination role of the CSO in the wider Irish Statistical System. Some issues were discussed further, these included:

• the increasing demand for high frequency, timely data and the opportunities in accessing privately held data for statistical purposes to help meet this demand;
• the importance of the role for CSO in working with PSBs in the application of common classifications and standards particularly in light of the growing dependency on administrative data for statistical purposes;
• the importance of the Memorandum of Understanding for statisticians seconded to external departments and the clarity this provides in their role in the IGSS; and
• the role of pathfinder projects and the importance of clarifying CSO’s role in these partnerships.

The Board recommended that a clear distinction of the role of the CSO in providing insight for policy making, as distinct from policy commentary, is established.

Item 5:  Improving Eircode collection by Public Sector Bodies (PSBs)

The Board discussed proposed recommendations for inclusion in the NSB Strategy 2021-2026 to address the collection of Eircodes on public sector data holdings.

Item 6:  Any other business

A special meeting of the Board is scheduled for February 25, 2021 to discuss the draft NSB strategy 2021-2026. The next regular meeting of the Board will take place on April 15, 2021.

Members were asked to consider external speakers for future NSB meetings and for the launch of the NSB Strategy in Q2 2021.

Item 7:  Private discussion

A short discussion took place for non-CSO Board members.