The Central Statistics Office this week officially launched Census 2016. The census will take place on Sunday, April 24, giving the people of Ireland the chance to make their mark on the future. Everybody who spends the night of Sunday April 24 in Ireland must be included on a census form.
Speaking at the launch of Census 2016 at Government Buildings this morning, the Taoiseach Enda Kenny T.D. outlined the importance of everyone taking part in Census 2016. “By participating in the census on April 24, each and every one of us will help to shape our understanding about life in Ireland today. We will also show how, as a country, we have changed and are changing over time. Importantly, it will also equip us to plan for the Ireland of tomorrow. The census alone collects information from every single household. The information it provides, therefore, is a vital input to important decisions we take on where to build new schools, where transport is needed, where the population is aging and in need of more support. The results of the census are an important resource which are available to all. Census 2016 will take place exactly 100 years to the day that the Easter Rising began, and the results of this Census will be of great interest to the historians of the future as they look back and reflect on life in Ireland in 2016.”
Pádraig Dalton, Director General of the Central Statistics Office, noted the extent of the work involved in making the census happen. “The census of population, carried out every five years, is the CSO’s largest and most challenging statistical operation. Counting every single person in the state on a single night is no easy task and, as you can imagine, an enormous amount of work has already gone into this census to get us here today. This forthcoming census on April 24 will be a traditional census which means census forms will be delivered by hand to every household in the state over the next five weeks, and will then be collected in person. The CSO rely heavily on the dedication and commitment of our census enumerators and field managers to do this work on our behalf. I have every confidence that our 5,200 field staff will carry out this census with total professionalism and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them in advance.”
Mr. Dalton also highlighted the importance of full public participation and emphasised that the confidentiality of the information provided is the CSO’s highest priority. “The census in Ireland enjoys great support from the public. I like to think this is because people trust the CSO to protect their information, and to treat it as strictly confidential. Of course statistical confidentiality is at the heart of everything we do in the CSO; the confidentiality of census information is guaranteed by law and I would like to reassure the public that no identifiable information relating to individuals or households collected in the census will ever be shared with any other body or agency. We in the CSO are justifiably proud of our unblemished record in protecting the confidentiality of all census information and it is our top priority to maintain this record!”
For those whose first language is not Irish or English a translation of the census form is available in 21 different foreign languages. Other resources which are available to assist people with filling out the census form include large print, Braille and audio versions of the census form and a video step-by-step guide to completing the census form. All of these resources and much more information about the census are available on the census website at www.census.ie
