In January 2013, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was agreed between the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and the Department of Finance (D/Fin). The MoU was signed by Mr. Pádraig Dalton, Director-General of the CSO, and Mr. John A. Moran, Secretary General of the Department of Finance.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) and the Department of Finance (D/Fin), along with the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) have a joint responsibility for reporting Government Finance Statistics (GFS -see section 3 below) for Ireland for past, present and forecast years. The EU Commission, Eurostat (Estat) and the European Central Bank (ECB) are increasing their efforts to assure the quality of GFS, including increased assurance on the robustness of systems and the upstream data. In this context, clarity with regard to the roles and responsibilities of key players in the production of GFS is very important.

The purpose of this Memorandum of Understanding is to clarify the roles and responsibilities of, as well as the areas of cooperation between, the CSO and D/Fin with regard to the compilation and transmission of GFS. The agreement is entered into on the understanding that it is subordinate to the relevant legislation governing each body, and is limited in scope to the GFS area only, and does not cover any other areas of co-operation between CSO and D/Fin. CSO and D/Fin will have separate bi­ lateral Memoranda of Understanding with the CBI.