NATIONAL STATISTICS BOARD

AGENDA 

Thursday May 14^th, 2026

Central Statistics Office (CSO), Ardee Road, Rathmines, Dublin

9.45am to 13.30pm

National Statistics Board Minutes

The meeting took place in the Central Statistics Office (CSO), Ardee Road, Rathmines, Dublin.

Date:  Thursday, 14th March 2025, 9:45am to 1.30pm

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

Non-members in attendance from CSO: Dr. Chris Sibley¹, Ms. Gillian Roche¹, Mr. Brian King¹, Mr. John Flanagan¹, Mr. Tom FitzGerald¹, Mr. Kieran Culhane¹, Ms. Violeta Maloney¹, Mr. John Sheriden¹, Mr. Mr. Rod O’Mahony^1*, Mr. Ciaran Dooly^2*, Mr. Colin Hanley, Mr. Seán O’Connor (secretary)

Non-members in attendance: 

Dr. Loretta O’Sullivan³, Mr. David Purdue, Mr. Paul Cotter

• Attended for items 3
• Attended for items 5

* Attended remotely

Apologies: Prof. Martina Lawless

Item 1:  Minutes of NSB meeting March 12^th, 2025 (NSB 2026-1-2)

The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed with a brief discussion on content

Items 2: CSO Director General’s Report to NSB (NSB 2026-2-3)

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 noted the good work in the 1926 Census “Then and Now” publications and welcomed the proposal that the Irish Health Survey should be carried out annually. The focus to build collaboration and alignment between CSO and NISRA outputs was also discussed.

The Board queried as to whether it might be possible to utilise satellite data and machine learning techniques to examine the prominence of hedgerows within Ireland.

Options for other public bodies to capture National Data Identifiers as part of their data collection were also discussed reflecting the success of championing the Eircode and the need to focus now on the

PPSN in particular.

The Board welcomed the potential in developing commercial real-estate statistics, while noting the complexity due to data gaps. The CSO noted a considerable body of work has been undertaken in this regard, in conjunction with other EU Member States and Eurostat, including exploration of data sources, periodicity options and a robust methodological underpinning.

A brief discussion was held regarding some of the emission-based statistical outputs and whether references should be made to national and international targets to provide users with added context to assist with interpreting figures. It was noted given the CSO has a policy-neutral stance on all matters, it would be more appropriate for users of CSO outputs to provide commentary on these targets.

Finally, the Board welcomed the extremely informative output relating to the Circular Economy and resource use amongst businesses and queried whether such types of analysis could be carried out in other areas.

Item 3: Presentations and Discussions on Economic Statistics (NSB 2026-2-4)

The Board received presentations from the CSO relating to a range of current Economic Statistical Outputs, future work plans, along with the developments which are being driven by the introduction of new international standards for national accounts and balance of payments statistics. Also noted were challenges such as measuring the impact of AI on the economy, counting data as an asset and measuring the depletion of resources.

Following the presentations, there was valuable input provided by the external discussants.

It was highlighted that the work carried out by the CSO in developing alternative measures of the Irish economy helped to provide valuable insights for national and international users to more accurately describe the Irish economy and address perceived exceptionalism under traditional measures. While further detailed analysis was always welcome, it was noted that core outputs, such as the Quarterly National Accounts (QNA), were still the most important results for users with net national income noted as a critical metric. It was also noted that public expectations were transforming giving rise to a need for timely data to both answer and refute popularly emerging narratives. A suggestion was made for the CSO to establish an expert group on prices to address how cost of living amongst other things is measured and understood. The CSO’s strong focus on engagement with users (expert and non-expert) was noted

Finally, the Chair opened the discussion to the wider members of the Board. This was a broad conversation, with topics ranging from the impact of globalisation and comparisons with  other economies, the need for a coherent story on European economies which includes the smaller economies, like Ireland, where globalisation’s effect can show up faster than in larger economies, how current outputs can flag risks and resilience in the Irish economy in a timely manner, the complexity in understanding key topics for lay users and what the new international standards will deliver for users.

Item 4: NSB Strategic Priorities for Official Statistics Update

The Board received an update on the current progress of the next iteration of the NSB’s strategic policy document.

The presentation focused on topics such as the level of engagement needed, how directive the strategy should be, ambition for use of privately held data, and the list of proposed questions which should form the basis of the consultation survey.

Following the presentation there was a discussion by the Board. Some points of note related to broadening the stakeholder base to include those associated with academia, the private sector and the political system.

It was noted that any feedback from the Board which would help to shape and inform the next stages of the strategic consultation process could be given until the end of the month.

Item 5: Ireland’s EU Presidency

The Board received a briefing from the CSO regarding Ireland’s upcoming EU Presidency and some of the matters of importance from a statistical perspective that are expected to arise during the second half of 2026.

It was noted the two main pieces of legislation likely to progress during Ireland’s EU Presidency will focus on Commercial Real Estate Indicators and European Fisheries and Aquaculture Statistics.

It was highlighted to the Board that a general theme across the Commission related to the topics of simplification and reduction in burden.

The Board thanked the CSO for an informative briefing.

Item 6: AOB

It was flagged during AOB that expressions of interest are sought for membership to the NSB when one of the current members term ends at the end of summer.

Item 7: Private Time

The Board members had a private discussion.