NATIONAL STATISTICS BOARD

Venue: Virtual Meeting

Date: Wednesday May 6, 2020 at 10.00am

Agenda

National Statistics Board

Minutes

The meeting took place remotely using video conferencing software.

Date:     Wednesday 6th May 2020

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

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

Apologies: Mr. Gerard Brady due to technical difficulties (Anne Vaughan and Claire Hanley met with Gerard Brady on 14^th May to discuss the agenda).

Item 1:  Minutes of NSB meeting January 29, 2020 (NSB 2020-2-2)

The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed.

Item 2: Update and questions on Director General’s progress report (NSB 2020-3-2)

The Director General briefed the Board on a number of recent developments within CSO with a particular focus on the impact of COVID-19 from a CSO perspective. The Board welcomed the CSO’s management of business during the crisis and the significant efforts by the office to inform stakeholders throughout the COVID crisis. Specific issues were selected for further discussion, these included:

Business Statistics

The Board were updated on the work of the business statistics area which, so far, have been able to maintain the on-time production of all statistical outputs with the exception of the monthly and quarterly tourism releases. The CSO is working with business survey respondents, many of which are facing great difficulties during the COVID-19 crisis and with response rates falling, there is a need for more estimation and imputation of missing data by the CSO.

Price collection for the Consumer Price Index was cut short during March due to the crisis and for April the CSO has obtained and will incorporate alternative data sources to compile the index. The Board stressed the importance of the CSO’s plans to make clear to users the approach to addressing such collection issues in future releases.

The Board welcomed the newly launched fortnightly online survey by the CSO on the Business Impact of COVID-19, the results of which were published on 1^st May.

Social and Demographic Statistics

The Board were informed that the COVID-19 crisis has introduced a number of challenges to the execution of the Census 2021 project, all of which are being addressed by the governance mechanisms in place.

The crisis has impacted on several household surveys with face to face interviewing suspended for the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the combined Household Budget Survey (HBS)/ Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC). CSO interviewers are now conducting the LFS and shortened SILC using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing and the HBS component has been suspended indefinitely.

The pilot field test for the new Programme for the International Assessment of Audit Competencies (PIAAC) questionnaire and survey instruments is currently paused because of the crisis; it is hoped to resume it in 2021.

The Board discussed issues relating to LFS definitions particularly in relation to rules surrounding temporary layoffs and stressed the importance of good communication around the issues. The CSO has consulted with the ILO and Eurostat and welcomed the recently published COVID-19: Guidance for labour statistics data collection by the ILO.

The Board welcomed the new household Social Impact of COVID-19 Survey, launched by the CSO in April. It is the first web enabled survey targeting households and focuses on well-being and changes in consumption during the crisis.

Statistical System Coordination Unit

The SSCU within CSO has been actively involved in informing the COVID crisis and the Board were updated on key initiatives which have been developed to support data requests. One such development was the establishment of a ‘data hub’ in late March to facilitate research by COVID modellers and researchers. The CSO is also providing a broad range of aggregate statistics from the new health data sources that have been made available. The Board welcomed the new initiatives, in particular the availability of linked data, and aggregate analysis based on those sources, in the health sector for research purposes and recommended that the results be made available for public consumption.

Item 3:  Preliminary discussion on NSB Strategy 2021-2026 (NSB 2020-3-3)

The next NSB Strategy for the period 2021-2026 is due to be launched in 2021 with preparation currently underway. The Board members will be consulted individually over the coming weeks; initial points raised by members for consideration included:

• The importance of Big Data, including administrative data sources, for the timely and innovative compilation of statistics to meet the growing demand for information as highlighted during the COVID-19 crisis; and the challenges in accessing Big Data;
• A Data Steward role for CSO supporting Public Sector Bodies to use data more efficiently for their purposes; what this role would entail for the CSO and the wider Irish Statistical System (ISS);
• Challenges for data collection and how events such as Brexit will impact on the collection of data;
• The importance of innovation around official statistics in reacting to big events such as the COVID-19 crisis and whether the NSB Strategy should address specific events/topics or take a broader approach in its discussion;
• The ever-growing demand for data - how the CSO and the ISS will deal with these demands and if there is a need to consider making a case for further investment in official statistics;
• The COVID-19 response by CSO and the impact that will have on future working arrangements in terms of resources, office space, staff training etc.;

Item 4:  National Data Infrastructure Update (NSB 2020-3-4)

Paul Morrin presented an update on the National Data Infrastructure (NDI), the implementation of which is the key theme of the current NSB Strategy. The NDI is continuing to evolve with increasing use of the key unique identifiers (PPSN, Eircode) and implementation of the Unique Business Identifier. The Board expressed concern over the level of engagement of Public Sector Bodies in relation to Eircode capture on their key data holdings and agreed that further action was needed in this area to ensure the success of the NDI.

Item 5:  Preliminary discussion on Census Taking (NSB 2020-2-8)

Richie McMahon presented a paper on the Future of Census which served to inform the Board of the possible implementation models for census taking in Ireland. The Board welcomed the paper and had a preliminary discussion on the implications of moving from the current model. The Board will continue its discussion on census taking at the September meeting.

Item 6:  Any other business

As this was Gerard O'Neill's last meeting of the NSB, having served two terms, the Chairperson, on behalf of the Board, and the Director General, on behalf of the CSO, each thanked Gerard for his significant contribution over 6 years. He was generous with his time and advice and he will be missed.  Gerard responded that he was delighted to be part of the Board and complimented the Board and, in particular, the CSO on its work and wished both well in the future.

The next meeting of the Board will take place on September 9, 2020 at the Department of the Taoiseach (dependant on social distancing restrictions).