NATIONAL STATISTICS BOARD
Agenda
Venue: Department of the Taoiseach
Date: Wednesday 7 October, 2015 at 9.00am
Item 1: Minutes of June 30th 2015 (NSB 2015-4-2)
Item 2: Feedback from NSB Strategy launch and seminar
Item 3: NSB recommended actions governance template (NSB 2015-4-3)
Item 4: Director General’s progress report (NSB 2015-4-4)
Item 5: Update on CSO prioritisation exercise (NSB 2015-4-5)
Item 6: Update on CSO resources (NSB 2015-4-6)
Item 7: Any other business
National Statistics Board
Minutes
Date: Wednesday 7 October, 2015
The following Board members attended:
Dr. Patricia O’Hara (Chairperson), Dr. Helen Johnston, Mr. Gerard O’Neill, Mr. Tom Geraghty, Mr. John Callinan, Mr. John McCarthy and Mr. Pádraig Dalton.
Dr. Lucy Fallon-Byrne, Mr. Richard McMahon and Ms. Jennifer Banim (CSO Senior Management) were also in attendance.
Ms. Claire Hanley acted as Secretary.
Apologies: Ms. Rowena Dwyer
Item 1: Minutes of June 30th 2015 (NSB 2015-4-2)
The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed.
Item 2: Feedback from NSB Strategy launch and seminar
A seminar to launch the NSB strategy entitled ‘A World Class Statistical System for Ireland – Strategic Priorities for Official Statistics 2015-2020’ took place on Thursday 10 September, 2015. The seminar was well represented with ninety one attendees from various organisations.
Feedback on the strategy and the seminar has been positive and it was evident that there is significant interest in the Irish Statistical System and the vision of the NSB. The Board agreed to hold an annual event to facilitate further discussion on the ISS and issues relevant to the implementation of the NSB Strategy.
Item 3: NSB recommended actions governance template (NSB 2015-4-3)
The Board endorsed the use of a proposed template to facilitate oversight of the progress of the recommended actions of the NSB Strategy 2015-2020. It will be included as an agenda item for discussion at each meeting.
Item 4: Director General’s progress report (NSB 2015-4-4)
The Director General briefed the Board on a number of recent developments within CSO and at European level.
Sector Allocation of Irish Water
A final decision on the sector allocation of Irish Water was published by Eurostat on July 30,2015. Correspondence between the CSO and Eurostat on the statistical classification decision for Irish Water is available on the CSO website, along with a CSO statement on the decision.
The CSO have written to Eurostat identifying a number of technical points where clarification is needed for future classification decisions. The Government Finance Statistics team will be working with Eurostat, through the appropriate working groups and task forces, to clarify interpretations of the relevant sections of the ESA 2010 standards on these points.
The sector allocation of Irish Water will be reviewed again in the second half of 2016 as part of the preparation of the September 2016 Excessive Deficit Procedure results.
The Board noted the decision by Eurostat on the sector allocation of Irish Water and commended the CSO on its handling of the issue and maintaining the integrity of the organisation throughout the process.
Environment
A new Environmental Taxes release was published on July 14, 2015 covering the years 2000 to 2014. Work has started on an Environmental Subsidies release, with a December 2015 target set for publication.
Sustainable Development Goals
On September 25, 2015, the UN General Assembly adopted the document “Transforming our world: the 2030 agenda for sustainable development” which includes targets for 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) identified as important for the UN post-2015 development agenda. Ireland and Kenya have been the co-facilitators of the intergovernmental negotiations at the UN on this initiative. A March 2016 target has been set for agreement on a set of 169 indicators that will measure progress on the SDGs.
The Board noted the challenge for the CSO and the Irish Statistical System of developing data for all 169 indicators and agreed that a statistical strategy at national level was needed to deliver this goal.
Census 2016
The next Census of Population will be held on 24 April 2016, coinciding with the centenary of the Easter Rising. The preparations for the Census are continuing with the recruitment process underway since April.
Labour Market
A new thematic release "Households and Family Units" was issued by the CSO on September 23, 2015. The release uses Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) data and has a particular focus on household composition, family unit composition and measures associated with these structures such as jobless households, employment rates, unemployment rates and participation rates.
Survey on Income and Living Conditions
A Technical Paper produced by the ESRI on behalf of the Department of Social Protection (DSP) in May 2015 led to concerns being raised surrounding the quality of official statistics on household income and poverty. The paper investigated the potential reasons for the gap in the figures on household joblessness from two sources; the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) and the Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC).
A full CSO response to the paper was published on the September 24, 2015 and presented to the Technical Advisory Group which includes key users of statistics on income and poverty. The paper, which was reviewed by Eurostat, proved conclusively that SILC is a robust and reliable source of information on income, poverty and social inclusion. It provides reassurance to the users of SILC data that the practices and methodology followed by the CSO in relation to SILC are sound and do not adversely impact on the quality of results.
The Board welcomed the clarity provided by the CSO methodological paper and noted its conclusions in relation to the quality of SILC data.
Household Survey Development Project
The first test phase of the Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) transition was completed in July 2015. In January 2016 the CSO field force will begin live interviewing of the first cohort of households from a sample on the new Labour Force Survey (LFS) questionnaire. Over the course of 2016 the volume of interviewing conducted by the call-centre will increase incrementally until Q1 2017, when 80% of all LFS interviews will be handled by the call-centre and just 20% in the field. The QNHS will be known as the Labour Force Survey from 2017 onwards and the first publication from the new environment will be based on Q1 2017 data.
Irish Health Survey and Household Budget Survey
The Irish Health Survey (IHS) and Household Budget Survey (HBS) are continuing field operations. Results from the IHS will be published in the middle of next year while it will be towards the end of 2016 when the initial HBS results will be released.
Crime Statistics
The CSO received a very positive reaction following the resumption of the quarterly statistics on Recorded Crime in June 2015. The quarterly release was accompanied by an in-depth analysis of the quality of PULSE data. A survey on Crime and Victimisation has been included in the Quarterly National Household Survey in Q3 2015 and will complete field work at the end of September. Results will be published around the middle of 2016.
Draft FRIBS Regulation and Proposals on Exchange of Confidential Microdata
The new framework regulation which is being developed for business statistics ‘Framework Regulation integrating European Business Statistics’ (FRIBS) continues to be discussed at Eurostat. The new regulation will incorporate the majority of business statistics requirements into one text - annual structural surveys of business, short-term monthly and quarterly indicators, earnings and employment indicators, science and technology, information society, global value chains, and intra-EU trade statistics.
The proposals on SIMSTAT (intra-EU trade) are the most contentious part of FRIBS. While the idea of SIMSTAT is to reduce burden and costs of intra-EU trade statistics, by collecting data on exports to other EU countries and providing that data to counterpart Member States, some significant concerns exist for a number of member states. The implications relate both to data quality in a small open economy and the exchange of confidential microdata. Under the draft FRIBS Regulation, the exchange of confidential data for SIMSTAT would be mandatory.
The ESSC and DGINS meetings in September held a detailed discussion of risks relating to the overall ESS Vision 2020, including the risks relating to exchange of confidential microdata. Discussions of the SIMSTAT project, together with a parallel project on options for the re-design of the INTRASTAT trade statistics system are also continuing. The timetable for these discussions is to present final proposals to the ESSC in May 2015.
The Board noted the proposals from Eurostat on the exchange of confidential microdata and discussed the difficulties these pose for official statistics in Ireland.
Prioritisation Exercise
The Transformation Division of the CSO has been working on the prioritisation exercise during August and September. Discussion on this item took place under item 5 of the agenda.
Strategic Workforce Planning
An assessment of CSO readiness to undertake strategic workforce planning has been completed and a report presented to the SMC. The recommendations from this report are now being implemented. The first stage of a three stage plan to adopt SWP will concentrate on the statistician role. The CSO is still experiencing difficulties in recruiting statisticians and this was evident in the recent statistician recruitment competition.
The Board discussed the ongoing difficulties in recruitment, particularly in relation to the Statistician/AP grade and suggested a number of ways in which this process may be improved.
European Statistics Code of Practice
The CSO Improvement Action plan in response to the recommendations outlined in the European Statistics Code of Practice (ESCOP) Peer Review report was published on August 26, 2015 on the Eurostat website.
The Board noted the agreed Improvement Action plan containing 50 actions and the challenge this presents for the CSO.
Irish Statistical System Code of Practice
CSO have been progressing work on the ISS CoP primarily through the Formal Statistics Liaison Group (FSLG) which constitutes seconded CSO staff and non-CSO statistical staff in other Departments/Agencies (e.g. Revenue). The next steps include gathering outstanding commitment statements, developing the visibility of the ISS CoP logo throughout the ISS, finalising the Peer Review assessment process and starting to run peer reviews among FSLG members.
The Board welcomed the progression of work on the ISS CoP and feels it is an important development in supporting the quality of official statistics in Ireland.
Irish Government Statistical System
Following discussions with DPER, a draft proposal for the establishment of an IGSS is being developed for the Civil Service Management Board (CSMB). Along with the legal responsibilities that the amendments to the ESS framework statistical regulation now place on the CSO, the proposal talks about the benefits to the wider system of an IGSS and how an IGSS supports several of the Civil Service Reform Programme goals. The relevant recommendations from the NSB strategy are incorporated in the document. The proposal also sets out a proposed structure for an IGSS, which includes clear reporting lines on statistical matters from IGSS units to the Director General of the CSO. The outstanding work on the proposal is on the cost/impact section and once this is complete, CSO will start the process of bringing the proposal to the CSMB.
The Board welcomed the progress on the draft proposal and regards the establishment of an IGSS as critical to strengthening the Irish Statistical System, as outlined in its Strategy.
Civil Service Employee Engagement Survey
The Civil Service Employee Engagement Survey issued to all civil servant on September 7, 2015 (approx. 36,000). This is the first such survey of all civil servants and is a central part of the Civil Service Renewal Plan.
The Board welcomed this initiative and noted the huge undertaking in carrying out such a survey.
Launch of CSO “new look” website
The CSO website has been updated and the new version went live in August 2015. The website is easily accessed across both desktop and mobile platforms.
The Board welcomed the launch of the new version of the CSO website and noted that further improvements are being considered.
User Survey
A user survey is to be conducted in Q1 2016, the results of which will be used to design improvement actions in the area of user engagement in the CSO by Q4 2016.
The Board will oversee the conduct of the user survey and members of the CSO customer and outputs group will be invited to present at the next Board meeting.
Item 5: Update on CSO prioritisation exercise (NSB 2015-4-5)
Padraig Dalton presented progress being made on the CSO’s prioritisation exercise which has developed a new operating model as part of the process and a set of planning initiatives for the CSO. The Transformation Division within the CSO, along with a representative group of staff from across the organisation, commenced work on the prioritisation of these initiatives during August and September.
Consultation with CSO staff, on the results of this exercise, began in October with a meeting of the General Management Forum (GMF). This group comprises all Statisticians and Assistant Principals as well as the Senior Management Committee, Senior Statisticians and Principal Officers from across the organisation. This will be followed by consultation with the Senior Management Group and engagement sessions involving all staff will take place in November. The Senior Management Committee will make final prioritisation decisions once the consultation process is complete.
The Board discussed the consultation process and the challenge the planned initiatives pose for the CSO, particularly in the area of resources and staff recruitment.
Item 6: Update on CSO resources (NSB 2015-4-6)
The Board discussed the implications of recent significant developments and the impact of these on CSO resources – the amendment to EU law which legally broadens the role of the CSO and that of the Director general of the CSO; the European Peer Review and the agreed Improvement Action plan arising from this review; the Boards own Strategy 2015-2020 which tasks the CSO with broadening its coordination role to include all compilers of official statistics nationally.
The CSO is currently reviewing its structure and resourcing requirements to support the implementation of the various developments and will update the Board at its December meeting regarding the outcome of the 2015 business case submission to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
The Chairperson Pat O’Hara attended the inaugural meeting of the Government Data Forum on 14 July 2015.
Two Irish maths students, Rachel and Shannon Ni Dhonnachadha, were placed first in the world in the senior category of a poster competition run by the International Association of Statistical Education (IASE) in collaboration with the International Statistical Literacy Project (ISLP) with their poster “Road to Rio – Protecting Our Olympic Boxing Future”. In addition, three students from Loreto Secondary School in Balbriggan came third in the junior category of the same competition with their poster “The effects of meditation and positive training on school community members”.
A Board visit to the CSO Census office in Swords to view the work associated with Census 2016 will be organised for May 2016.
The next meeting of the Board will take place on December 10, 2015 at the Department of the Taoiseach.
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