Census of Population
Dail Éireann — 2020-11-10
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Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (SF), Donegal

We understand the public health concerns of the CSO's director general and agree that it makes sense to postpone the census. However, under the EU framework regulation, Ireland is required to submit census data to EUROSTAT with a reference date next year. What accommodation has been made with EUROSTAT to allow Ireland to push the taking of the census into 2022?
On a related matter, there is a shortfall in the HSE's contact-tracing capacity. A census is a huge undertaking requiring a large number of people to be deployed as field officers. Is the HSE working with the CSO to avail of that resource and train the personnel to take up that role in the contact-tracing area? It strikes me as an obvious opportunity that arises from the current situation.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2020-11-10/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:48:46+00:00
Sitting date: 2020-11-10