NSB 2008/5/2
Venue: Department of the Taoiseach
Date: September 16 2008, 11:00-14:00
Mr. Brendan Walsh[1] chaired the meeting. The following members also attended: Ms. Mary Doyle, Mr. Con Lucey, Ms. Pat O’Hara, Mr. Gerry O’Hanlon
CSO Assistant Directors General Ms. Siobhan Carey and Mr. Bill Keating also attended. Mr. Gerry Brady acted as Secretary. Apologies were received from Mr. Michael McGrath, Mr. Danny McCoy and Mr. Paul Sweeney.
These were approved with a minor amendment.
A control visit led by Eurostat examined the adequacy of our GNI estimate earlier this year. The report is to be presented to the GNI Committee in late October. The report contained 18 "A" items requiring methodological changes. At this stage we have already addressed five of the A items. The remaining “A” item will be addressed in the compilation of the National Income and Expenditure 2008 estimates.
The Government agreed before the summer recess to the taking of the next census in 2011 and the CSO initiated a public consultation process on the content of the census questionnaire. The report “Non-Irish nationals living in Ireland” was published on 30th June.
The Live Register process has been updated so that main headline results are now published two days earlier than previously. We are also actively discussing with the Department of Social and Family Affairs the inclusion of a nationality table within the monthly release.
A pensions update (detailing pension coverage and how it has changed in recent years) was published on 4th September. Other module publications are due before the end of this year - the first of these will be Health (Q3 2007).
Estimates of the cost of the CSO undertaking the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies 2011 were prepared. The PIAAC is being co-ordinated through the OECD and will update the information collected in the international adult literacy survey conducted in the 1990’s.
The Statistical Potential of Administrative Records project with the Office of the Revenue Commissioners has now entered the drafting stage. A final CSO draft will be ready by late September.
The CSO published a joint report with Forfás on the Community Innovation Survey 2004-2006, which was the first time the CSO undertook the data collection. Arrangements for the CSO to take over from Forfás the conduct of the Business Expenditure on Research and Development (BERD) survey are at an advanced stage.
The CSO has received accreditation at the highest standard - Platinum - under the FÁS Excellence Through People scheme. The ETP standard supports business improvement, change and innovation; and promotes employee learning, development and participation in achieving the organisation’s goals.
The CSO Rathmines office won the Best Modern Building category in the South East Area of Dublin heat of the recent Dublin City Neighbourhoods competition. The office also received a Special Merit Certificate in the Best Example of Waste Management category.
The Board requested that the Chairperson of the Unique Business Identifier group be asked to attend the next NSB meeting to provide a briefing on the project. Consideration should also be given to the NSB/CSO hosting a seminar on the benefits of introducing a unique business number and developing a business register.
The estimates procedure for 2009 expenditure is underway. The CSO’s gross allocation has been significantly reduced. The CSO will need to receive specific extra funding in 2009 for the following large-scale projects:
Census of Population 2011;Household Budget Survey 2009/2010; andCensus of Agriculture 2010.
A follow-on report on the potential benefits to Government Departments from the introduction of postcodes was recently presented to the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.
The Board requested that the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources be asked to attend the next NSB meeting to provide a briefing on the introduction of postcodes.
The Board suggested that items on health, social statistics, the children and ageing longitudinal studies be added to the draft template. An item on access to statistical data should also be added. Text boxes containing examples of progress made during the current strategy should be included in the strategy (e.g. data collection co-operation with Central Bank, placement of statisticians in Government Departments, publication of crime statistics by CSO, Health accounts etc.).
Members are requested to provide topics, and text if possible, for inclusion in the strategy before the next NSB meeting.
The next meeting will be on November 17th in the Department of the Taoiseach at 11:00.
[1] Professor emeritus Economics Department, UCD.