Dáil Éireann Debate, Monday - 11 September 2023
792. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media when the results of the 1926 census will be published; if she will consider relaxing the 100-year rule in respect of the publication of the census results; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37613/23]
View answer796. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if she will report on progress to collate and index the 1926 census returns. [38350/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 792 and 796 together.
The 100-year rule is enshrined in the Statistics Act 1993 and that legislation is the responsibility of the Taoiseach. Under Sections 33 and 35 of the Statistics Act, information gathered by the census relating directly or indirectly to an identifiable person cannot be released until 100 years after the date the census was taken.
The 1926 Census was taken on the night of 18th April 1926, and is the next full set of census records available in Ireland following the 1911 and 1901 censuses. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) owns census data until it is 100 years old when ownership transfers to the National Archives which is part of my Department. I have provided €5m for the significant volume of work required to prepare the 1926 census for online publication and involves the conservation and the digitisation of the data in the individual 1926 Census forms.
This work has already started by the National Archives in collaboration with the CSO. A provisional index has been formulated using a combination of guidance data from the 1901 & 1911 census in conjunction with information from the 1926 Census Report. Cataloguing of the 1.5 million census returns is currently taking place and data obtained from this activity will be used to finalise the index. It is predicted at this stage that cataloguing will be completed by early 2025.
The National Archives is also developing a new website to enable platforming of the 1926 Census as well as associated bespoke software to enable analysis of data across the 1901, 1911 and 1926 census returns. It is hoped that work will be complete in time for public release at the end of the statute period in April 2026.
In the meantime, the CSO has published 10 volumes of statistical information that was gathered in the 1926 census and it can be viewed at the following link www.cso.ie/en/census/censusvolumes1926to1991/historicalreports/ as indeed can information from all other censuses carried out in Ireland since the foundation of the State.
