National Statistics Board

The National Statistics Board (NSB) was initially set up on a non-statutory basis in 1986. It was established on a statutory basis when the Statistics Act, 1993 came into operation in November 1994. Its function, set out in the Act, is to guide the strategic direction of the CSO and, in particular to:

• establish priorities for the compilation and development of official statistics,
• assess the resources of staff, equipment and finance which should be made available for the compilation of official statistics,
• arbitrate, subject to the final decision of the Taoiseach, on any conflicts that may arise with other public authorities relating to the extraction of statistics from records or to the co-ordination of statistical activities.

The Board prepares five-year Strategies for Statistics, following an extensive consultative process, for agreement by Government. Progress in implementing these strategies is assessed by the Board in regular reports.

The National Statistics Board has its own website at www.nsb.ie.