I do not intend to delay the Dáil long with the presentation of this Bill for Second Reading, mainly for this reason, that the Bill is one which has been demanded on a score of occasions by members of the House, and I think its provisions meet or seem to me to meet, in so far as they can be met, most of the arguments put forward by outsiders for the compilation of statistics in greater detail, covering a greater variety of subjects and under the control, as far as that can be economically and efficiently achieved, of one Department of Government. It has been a serious source of objection for many years in this country that there has not been sufficient provision of statistical material of what are described as informative statistics rather than the ordinary administrative type, and it has often been said that the remarks applied to statistics in the whole of the late United Kingdom applied with even greater force here, that there was hardly any reform of any type, social, commercial, banking or otherwise, which could be properly achieved simply because there was not at hand the necessary information to direct those who sought a change.
The Bill is simple enough in its terms and it is certainly decidedly simple in its aim. It sets out in Section 2 the points on which statistical information may be collected and for a series of clauses after that it shows distinctly its tendency, which is that the compilation and the publication of statistical matters should be centralised in so far as that is possible. If I were going into details to explain any delay that there has been in introducing the Bill I would stress very definitely the difficulties that have been met in seeking to get assent to the general proposition that the collection and publication of statistics should be centralised and should be placed under one Department of Government. The arguments and objections that have been used against that have not been raised simply for the sake of objection. There are a variety of matters that have to be dealt with: the particular seasons of the year in which one Department requires information to be collected, as distinct from another; the form in which information has to be published, different forms required by different Departments; and while this does not specially and rigidly set up a centralised Department it, as I say, shows this tendency, that while allowing, as it does, under Section 3, the collection of different statistics to individual Ministers or heads of Departments, nevertheless there is allowance also under Section 6 for consultation, and in fact an insistence on consultation as between Ministers, leaving it to be recognised right through that the Minister named in the Bill as the Minister for the purpose of its execution shall have certain coordinating power, and that it is incumbent on him as far as possible to co-ordinate all statistics, no matter by whom they may be collected.
One of the points ordinarily urged with regard to the collection of statictics is that whatever inquiries are necessary to their collection must not be such as to excite irritation or resentment amongst those from whom the information has been obtained, and fears have been expressed on a good many occasions by those who have to give the information required for statistical purposes that the returns may be disclosed in such a way as to give information relating to individuals or individual firms or corporations. Sections 13 and 14 give as much protection as reasonably can be expected so as to appease those who may have fears with regard to the disclosure of information. Section 15, of course, also has a repercussion on that point. Sections 14 and 15 go together, the officers being commanded not to disclose the information. A penalty has been set up to punish any officer for an abuse of his office.
The purpose of the Bill, therefore, is to have statistics collected on a greater variety of matters, and possibly in greater detail, than has hitherto been the case. The tendency of the Bill is to have that centralised as far as possible in one Department of Government, but it recognises than an allowance has to be made, and that that cannot at the start be rigidly insisted upon. Hence the allowance made in Section 3. As far as it is reasonably possible it will be the aim of my Department to urge upon the Executive Council that the centralising process should go on as quickly as possible, and that we should arrive in the shortest possible time at the position where a single Department of Government shall compile and publish all the statistics relating to the points set out in Section 2, and matters incidental thereto.