Skip to main content
Normal View

Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 5 Mar 2003

Vol. 562 No. 5

Ceisteanna – Questions. - Central Statistics Office.

Joe Higgins

Question:

97 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Taoiseach the reason for the 40% cut in the spending allocation to the Central Statistics Office. [25676/02]

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

Question:

98 Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Taoiseach the reason for the cut in the allocation to the Central Statistics Office. [26475/02]

Trevor Sargent

Question:

99 Mr. Sargent asked the Taoiseach the reason for the 40% cut in the spending allocation to the Central Statistics Office; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2420/03]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 97 to 99, inclusive, together.

The reduction in the 2003 allocation referred to by the Deputies is primarily due to the cyclical nature of expenditure on the census of population.

The CSO's total expenditure on the census in 2002 was €26.4 million, while the cost in 2003 will be about €3.7 million, that is, a reduction in the cyclical census requirement of €22.7 million.

Since the 2003 Revised Book of Estimates shows a reduction of €20.2 million in the allocation for the CSO, it can be observed that over €2.5 million is available to the office for non-census activities in 2003.

The census of population, originally scheduled for April 2001 was postponed until April 2002 by Government decision because of the foot and mouth disease crisis. The processing of the census results is ongoing and will be completed during the course of this year.

A Cheann Comhairle, we cannot hear the reply.

The Chair has already called for quiet.

The first summary report from the census was published in July 2002. The more detailed results of the census will be published in a series of reports to be issued from June 2003 onwards.

I am not prepared to ask supplementary questions on statistics when in the past five minutes the Deputy Prime Minister of this State treated us with the utmost contempt and refused to answer life and death questions concerning the policy of this State towards the imminent war on Iraq and the plight of Iraqi children, women and men.

We cannot return to leaders' questions.

I will not ask any further questions in protest—

I thought we might get a little more detail from the Minister of State on the question of cutbacks in the CSO budget. I tried to raise this question yesterday so perhaps I will have more success today. There have been reports about this and the Taoiseach referred to initiatives and projects affected by these cutbacks. Will the Minister of State indicate if the national employment survey, which is probably more important now than it has been for many years, will be affected by what I understand will be a 40% cut in the CSO budget?

As I said at the outset, and I realise it was difficult to hear the reply, the CSO funding is cyclical in nature. The reason for the cut is that much more money was required last year to deal with the census returns than is needed this year. With the funding available to it, however, the CSO will be able to continue with its priority work and much extra work also for the coming year. For example, it will complete the census of population, which is essential, and the reports will come out during this year. It will also be launching the new EU SILC survey on income and living conditions. Funding not available in the original Estimate has been made available for that survey because the nine Departments have agreed to contribute €100,000 each towards its cost. That is important because it will ensure we can participate in this survey which will provide good quality national estimates on poverty rates, income distribution, etc., which I know is of interest to the Deputy.

Other activities which the CSO will be able to continue this year include the implementation of the two major studies – structural and quarterly – on the earnings statistics the Deputy is interested in, and advance preparation will be made for the household budget survey of 2004-05, which will also be going ahead. The core work of the CSO, plus additional work, will go ahead as usual.

The Government is developing a habit of not answering the questions it is asked. I asked specifically about the national employment survey. I realise it replaces the structure of earnings survey which might be what the Minister of State was referring to when she talked about earnings statistics. I specifically asked if this survey, which I understand is to go ahead in 2003, will be affected in any way by the cutbacks and I was looking for a "Yes" or "No" answer.

No, it will not be affected by the cutbacks. The two major surveys on earnings statistics – structural and quarterly – will go ahead.

I apologise to the Ceann Comhairle and the Minister of State for being late in availing of my opportunity to put a question. Will the Minister of State outline the co-operation between the Central Statistics Office here and the equivalent body in the Six Counties? Is work ongoing so that the results of the census on both sides of the Border can be compared and collated? Does this come under the remit of any of the all-Ireland implementation bodies? Will the Government seek to advance this issue on its agenda? Finally, does the Minister recognise that increasingly we need to treat this island as a unit in policy terms and, therefore, co-operation even between our statisticians is a requirement?

The Central Statistics Office is an independent body which works separately but of course there is co-operation on the island and within the EU for the collation of data. We have found that as questions can be asked in different ways it can be difficult to compare statistics but we are becoming increasingly aware of the value and importance of data being collected in a way that can be used on an all-island basis. Regarding the Deputy's second point, the National Statistics Board has been devising schemes and outlines for the kind of statistics we need. Deputies will be aware of a particular dearth of statistics on social issues and those are urgently needed for health and social policies. The National Statistics Board is working closely to build links with the CSO to devise strategies to determine exactly what kind of statistics will be needed in the future. Those can then be collated in a similar way across Departments for policy input.

I thank the Minister of State for that information. It is very clear, unlike the lack of information the Tánaiste gave us earlier. I was deeply disappointed the Tánaiste was not willing—

We cannot have a discussion on Leaders' Questions, which has long since passed.

—to reply to a question of national importance.

We are on Questions Nos. 97 to 99.

I did reply.

If the Tánaiste thinks that was a reply we are in worse trouble than we thought.

We cannot have a discussion on that.

In relation to Question No. 101—

We have not reached Question No. 101.

I could not hear because there was so much noise. I assumed Question No. 101 was included.

No, I have already repeated to the Deputy that we are dealing with Questions Nos. 97 to 99.

There was a lot of noise and I did not hear the Chair.

I stated that in the last 30 seconds.

Does the Minister of State agree that any cut in funding for the CSO would be very short sighted, as accurate information and statistics are critically important in forming good Government policy? Will she inform us of the Government's intentions regarding the CSO? Does she agree that it is not a case of cutting funds but that there should be an expansion of the work of the CSO into different areas of the economy and society? The information to be gleaned will be critically important in ensuring good Government in the future.

I agree on the importance of statistics and of using those statistics for various policies. The obvious examples are the national spatial strategy, education policies, social and health access and so on. Those would all depend on knowing population statistics but also on details of income and lifestyle and that kind of information is gathered on a regular basis. It is not true to say, however, that there has been a real cut in funding. It is because of the cyclical nature of the work of the CSO that funding is lower this year than last year. As I said at the outset, though I know it was difficult to hear, the census of population is only done every five years but obviously in those years much more funding is needed. The household budget survey is done every five years and the census of agriculture is done every ten years; in those years funding is likely to be higher than in the other years, when the CSO continues with its usual work. I welcome the fact that we are looking more and more for social statistics, which can contribute in a very positive way to policies across Departments.

What is the function of the CSO regarding the compilation of crime statistics? Will the Minister of State confirm that efforts are being made to compile crime statistics on a more scientific basis so that the difficulties faced can be tackled in a more scientific way?

To my knowledge the CSO is not responsible for the collation of crime statistics. That is done by the Garda, which publishes those statistics annually. A number of bodies collect statistics on a regular basis and the use of those statistics is a challenge for us as a Government.

Does the Minister of State see value in the CSO being involved in the compilation of crime statistics as the independence and scientific measuring of this problem require attention? The gardaí are put in a difficult position if they are compiling their own statistics on an ongoing basis.

I see the two as being completely different. Any group can only be responsible for the statistics it collates. The CSO is itself physically responsible for collecting the census population figures with the couple of million forms it delivers through its enumerators before coding the responses. The CSO is not responsible for the collation of crime statistics because that is information the Garda has and as that is the body which has the information, it will have to remain the body responsible for gathering it.

Is there any information in the statistics yearbook the Minister of State finds alarming? I am particularly interested in the environment section—

We have not reached that question.

It is Question No. 100.

We have not reached Question No. 100.

I beg your pardon.

Top
Share