Members present: Ms. Anne Vaughan (Chairperson), Mr. Gerard O’Neill, Mr. John Shaw, Mr. John McCarthy, Mr. Gerard Brady, Mr. John Martin and Mr. Pádraig Dalton.

Non-members in attendance: Dr. Patricia O’Hara (outgoing Chairperson), Ms. Jennifer Banim (CSO Senior Management) and Ms. Claire Hanley (Secretary). Ms. Elaine O’Mahoney, Mr. Ken Kennedy and Mr. David Lester (CSO) attended for item 5 of the agenda. Mr. Kieran Culhane, Ms. Lianora Bermingham and Mr. Paul Rockley (CSO) attended for item 6 of the agenda.

Note:

Since the previous meeting on December 5 2018, the Taoiseach appointed Ms. Anne Vaughan as chairperson of the National Statistics Board. The role of Chairperson was officially handed over at this meeting by the outgoing chairperson, Dr. Patricia O’Hara.

Item 1: Minutes of NSB meeting December 5, 2018 (NSB 2019-1-2)

The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed. Padraig Dalton and the Board paid special tribute to Patricia O’Hara and to her significant contribution to the Board over the last fifteen years.

Item 2: NSB Strategy – Review of Progress on Recommended Actions (NSB 2019-1-3)

The Board noted the status of the actions outlined in the NSB Strategy with further discussion on particular topics under the Director General’s report (item 3).

Item 3: Director General’s progress report (NSB 2019-1-4)

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 were updated on a number of developments relating to Action 24 of the CSR.

The levels of Eircode coverage on public sector data holdings are closely monitored by the NDI^[1] Champions group with the 2018 Dashboard results currently being compiled. The OSi has completed the requirements gathering phase of the pilot API project but practical issues with licensing and ‘batch coding’ of addresses need to be resolved. The Board agreed that progress is needed in relation to Eircode coverage and emphasised the importance of the support from the CSMB.

The Data Sharing and Governance Bill is progressing well and is expected to be enacted in the coming weeks. The Bill will give a legal basis to data sharing and linking in the public service.

The introduction of the Unique Business Identifier (UBI), based on the Revenue internal customer number, is progressing well.

With regard to ongoing pathfinder projects at CSO, two seconded economists from the HEA and SOLAS have joined CSO to work on the Education pathfinder team. The housing report, first published mid-2018 by CSO, is now a quarterly output and the next housing pathfinder will be on social housing. A Health Liaison Group (HLG) has been established, led by CSO and the Department of Health, with sector-wide representation. The group will identify pathfinder projects on health to be undertaken by a dedicated statistician in CSO.

Horizontal reports, linking data across multiple sources, are ongoing at CSO and include a children’s report as one of the initial topics being assessed.

Environment and Climate Statistics

The Board were updated on the ongoing work of the Environment statistics area in CSO, an area which will see further development as EU legislative requirements and national needs increase.

Macro-economic Statistics

The Board welcomed the publication of the Macro Imbalances Procedure (MIP) which included a chapter on information from the 10 years of the financial crisis. The Board were updated on the EDP^[2] Dialogue visit due to take place at the end of February which will see Eurostat, ECB and ECFIN teams visit the CSO to review Government Accounts data. The Board discussed the recently established Productivity Statistics Liaison Group and aspects of the productivity agenda, including data on hours worked.

Survey on Prevalence of Sexual Violence and Growing Up in Ireland

The Board discussed two recent significant developments in Social Statistics in CSO - the development and delivery of a significant new national survey on the Prevalence of Sexual Violence in Ireland (SAVI); and the transition of the Growing up in Ireland (GUI) survey to the CSO from 2023 – particularly in relation to the impact on skills and resources at CSO.

Census of Population

The Board were updated on the status of the recent Census Pilot, recommendations from which will be presented to the Census Advisory Group (CAG) in March 2019. The Board agreed to discuss the future of Census undertakings in order to plan for Census 2026 and 2031. The CSO will prepare a paper outlining various options for discussion by the Board.

Crime Statistics

The Board were informed of the publication of the third review of the quality of Recorded Crime statistics, published last December. The report concludes that there is evidence of improvement in both the recording process and in data quality, but that more work is needed to ensure a consistent statistical product.

Cross Border Shopping Survey

The Board welcomed the recent publication of the headline results from the module on Cross Border Shopping which was included in the 2018 General Household Survey.

FRIBS^[3]

The Board were updated on developments around the FRIBS Regulation. The Council Working Party on Statistics (CWPS) have agreed its position on the regulation, which includes provisions on mandatory exchange of intra-EU trade data. Discussions between the European Parliament and Council will advance in the second half of 2019.

Business Gender Balance Survey

The Board were informed of the Gender Balance in Business Survey which will be collected in February 2019 and is the CSO’s response to the Better Balance for Better Business initiative.

Technology

The Board were updated on the ongoing work within the CSO in relation to technology and welcomed the successful migration of Statbank, the CSO’s data dissemination system, to a new hosting provider. Specific items were identified for future discussion at the Board, particularly the issue of cloud computing.

Corporate Matters

The Board were apprised of the upcoming meeting of the Select Committee on Finance which will discuss the 2019 CSO Vote as well as the attendance of the Director General at the Public Accounts Committee in March to discuss the 2017 Appropriation Account. Other items raised were the update in January 2019, of the CSO Statement of Strategy 2016-2019 and the CSO People Strategy which is currently under consultation and development.

Item 4: Update on CSO resources (NSB 2019-1-5)

The Board were updated on CSO increased staff resources and recruitment activities – both live and upcoming competitions for 2019 – and discussed the continuing recruitment and retention issues throughout the Irish Statistical System.

Item 5: CSO campaign to address non-response

Elaine O’Mahoney, Ken Kennedy and David Lester (CSO) presented a marketing campaign, currently being designed in CSO, which aims at addressing falling respondent rates for household surveys. The project, due to be implemented in Q2 2019, includes a video highlighting the link between informing society and participating in CSO surveys; concepts for CSO survey logos; print and social media ideas; and branded clothing for field staff.

The Board gave a very positive reaction to the campaign and offered input on aspects of the video and the project in general, including items for A/B testing, incentives to help increase response rates, use of local media and practicalities in the field.

Item 6: Census Data Matching Project and The Potential of Eircodes to Inform Local Policy

Kieran Culhane and Lianora Bermingham (CSO) presented research outputs from a data matching project currently underway at CSO, which links Census 2016 data and Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP) administrative data. This is the first Census linked administrative data research project and looks at income from various aspects including housing, education, health and household earnings.

This research project was much welcomed by the Board as the use of administrative data as a source for statistical information is central to the NSB Strategy. The Board discussed the benefits to the public and to policy-makers and the measures taken by CSO to ensure data protection and privacy throughout the project.

Paul Rockley (CSO) presented the potential of collecting Eircodes on administrative data holdings to enable policy decision making at local level. The Administrative Data Centre (ADC) in CSO is attempting to geocode all datasets received by ADC, using the An Post geodirectory where no Eircode exists.

The Board were updated on the challenges facing the ADC where the Eircode does not exist and reiterated the importance of capturing the Eircode on public sector data holdings.

Item 7: Implications of Brexit for the CSO (NSB 2019-1-7)

Jennifer Banim (CSO) presented a paper on the implications of Brexit for Trade in Goods statistics. The Board discussed the possible effects for CSO of various UK withdrawal scenarios.

Item 8: Any other business

The next meeting of the Board will take place on April 10, 2019 at the Department of the Taoiseach, Government Buildings. The remaining meeting dates for 2019 will be circulated once confirmed and the Board agreed to hold the December 2019 meeting at the CSO office in Cork.

[1] National Data Infrastructure

[2] Excessive Deficit Procedure

[3] Framework regulation integrating business statistics

NSB Agenda and Minutes 13 February 2019

NATIONAL STATISTICS BOARD

Agenda

ISSCoP

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