NATIONAL STATISTICS BOARD

AGENDA 

Thursday February 13th, 2025

Room 301, Government Buildings 

 10.00 to 13.30 

National Statistics Board Minutes

The meeting took place in Room 301, Government Buildings, Dublin

Date:     Thursday, 13^th February 2025, 10am to 1.30pm

Members present: Ms. Anne Vaughan (Chairperson), Ms. Eithne Fitzgerald, Dr. Clíona Saidléar, Mr. John Shaw, Mr. Jim Scheer, Dr. Martina Lawless, Dr. Emma Cunningham and Mr. John McGarry

Non-members in attendance from CSO:  Paul Morrin, Richard McMahon, Katie O’Farrell¹, Frankie Kay*²³, Eimear Crowley², Eileen Murphy*³, Diarmuid Reidy³, Tim Linehan³ and Brian Cahill (Secretary)

Apologies: Ms. Jennifer Banim

* attended remotely

¹ Attended for items 4

² Attended for items 5

³ Attended for items 6

John McGarry was congratulated on his appointment to the NSB was welcomed to his first Board meeting.

Item 1:  Minutes of NSB meeting December 5^th, 2024 (NSB 2025-1-2)

The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed with one amendment.

Item 2: CSO Director General’s Report to NSB (NSB 2024-1-3)

The DG’s Report to the National Statistics Board was taken as read and the Board discussed in more detail items including:

Revenue UBI Implementation: The Board was informed that Revenue is seeking legal advice from the Attorney General's office regarding the implementation of the Unique Business Identifier (UBI).

DECC's Public Service License (PSL): The Board heard that the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) has established a Public Service License (PSL) to regulate the use of Eircodes within the public sector. This licensing framework ensures consistent and appropriate use of Eircodes, enhancing service delivery and data management across public services, which should see increased Eircode usage across the public service.

Environment and CSO Innovation Lab: The Board discussed the positive progress made by the CSO’s Innovation Lab, particularly in linking business and environmental survey data. This initiative supports cross-domain analysis, which contributes to the Just Transition initiative. The Board was also discussed the potential of Ecosystem Accounts to track and report on climate events over time, using various data sources such as electricity downtime and the number of affected homes. However, challenges remain in measuring resilience and adaptation effectively.

UN SDGs Reporting: The Board discussed the reporting of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and whether the reports published reflect progress over time. CSO provides time-series data for SDG indicators where available.

National Accounts and the Hospitality Sector: The Board reflected on National Accounts' presentation to the Department of Finance on the hospitality sector, agreeing that this was a beneficial initiative. They suggested that similar initiatives be undertaken regularly, especially for topics of topical or policy relevance.

CSO Data Model: The Board discussed the administrative data standards and structures being implemented under the CSO’s new Data Model. While recognising the challenges of working with large datasets, the Board noted that the model aims to systematically links and classifies administrative data. The CSO has allocated resources to a data engineering team to support this work, ensuring that CSO staff and researchers benefit from these standardised processes.

ISSCoP Certification: The Board heard that the SEAI team found the ISSCoP certification process to be rewarding, providing valuable insights that contributed to a positive overall experience.

UBI and Complexities of Large Companies: The Board inquired whether the UBI system would address the complexities of large companies with multiple entities and units. It was noted that Revenue’s expertise in this area will be leveraged over time and integrated into the UBI system.

County-Level Data and Geographical Reporting: The Board agreed that county-level and more geographically detailed data are highly beneficial to users. Administrative data spines will improve this geographically detailed reporting over time.

Rental Data Sources: The Board noted the multiple sources of rental data and suggested that a single, definitive source for rent prices would be preferable.

Digital Services Act and Researcher Access to Data: The Board noted that the Digital Services Act provides for researcher access to data for studying systemic risks associated with very large online platforms and search engines. This initiative aims to better understand risks related to areas such as disinformation, illegal content, public health, and democracy.

Programme for Government: The Board considered the implications of the inclusion of statistical production items in the Programme for Government, focusing on the CSO and the broader National Statistical System (NSS).

Item 3: Update on Data Stewardship Engagement

Richard McMahon gave the Board an update on the Data Stewardship endeavours his Directorate had undertaken in recent months and the challenges that have arisen and the progress that has been made.

Item 5: Growing Up in Ireland (GUI)

The Board received a presentation from Katie O’Farrell, Senior Statistician, CSO on the Growing Up in Ireland, CSO. The Board commended Katie and her team on the work they have undertaken and the challenges they had overcome to transition GUI into the CSO. In the discussion that followed it was noted that:

• Standardised attribute data over time is of utmost importance.
• GUI is more focused on physical difficulties while there has been a growth in demand for services to address other types of issues.
• Getting user input is good and very important.
• The longitudinal element of GUI is hugely beneficial.
• There are pros and cons to boosting the sample to deal with sample attrition. While boosting the sample would help maintain sample representivity it would however add methodological difficulties.
• Relationship between CSO and DECDIY is based upon a MOU that is reviewed every 2 years. While DYCDIY are better placed to ascertain the needs for the survey and undertake more in depth research on the survey requirements CSO has the final say survey design and implementation.
• Outputs from GUI and research using GUI have fed into lots of policy development in the Department.
• Administrative data is utilised to identify longitudinal survey participants over time based upon interactions with the state. One eighth of the 1998 Cohort were deemed to be overseas, some of whom complete the oversea GUI.

Item 6: Update on Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) for the production of Official Statistics (AIML4OS) project

The Board received a presentation from Eimear Crowley, Statistician in the Data Science team, CSO on Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) for the production of Official Statistics (AIML4OS) project.

The Board congratulated Eimear and Frankie and their work at the cutting edge. Discussing AIML4OS the Board heard that:

• CSO are most prominently engaged in work-strands related to text classifications and synthetic data.
• CSO intend to communicate clearly and transparently about their use of AI to maintain trust.
• CSO will develop frameworks for the use of AI and have clear use guidance to ensure trust.
• Potential uses of AI in the CSO include: laborious coding; translation of SAS code to R code; text to new code; use of ML for IT operations.
• CSO are planning an AI week which will showcase use cases and developments already made I the AIML4OS project.

Item 7: Update on Census: Census Pilot; Census 2027 Planning; Census 1926; & Future of Census Taking

The Board received presentations from Eileen Murphy, Principal Officer in Census Administration, Diarmuid Reidy, Senior Statistician in Census Data Collection, and Tim Linehan, Senior Statistician in Life Events & Demography.

The Board thanked the presenters for their work and discussed the challenges for Census 2027, particularly the integration of an online option supported by a resilient platform. The Board heard that the Census team is working closely with minority communities, communal establishments, nursing homes, and primary care centres to ensure full population coverage. Census forms will be available in 23 languages, and translation tools will be available through the call centre.

Item 8:  AOB

The Board congratulated Anne Vaughan on her six successful years as Chairperson, acknowledging her invaluable leadership, deep expertise, and unwavering commitment to advancing the Board's objectives. Her steady guidance and strategic vision have significantly shaped the NSB's direction during her tenure. The Board also congratulated Clíona Saidléar on her appointment as the new Chairperson of the NSB and wished her every success in this important role.

Item 9:  Private Business

The Board members had a private discussion.