Present:
Steve MacFeely - (CSO)
Margaret McLoughlin - (CSO)
Andrew Murray - (CSO)
Susan O’Connor - (CSO)
Hilda McCarthy - (CSO)
Fiona O’Callaghan - (CSO)
Ann Derwin - (DAFM)
Colm O Cribín - (DAFM)
Tom Quinlivan - (DAFM)
Brian Moran - (Teagasc)
Bernard Hyde - (EPA)
Rowena Dwyer - (IFA)
Peter Duggan - (Bord Bia)
Geoff Dooley - (ICMSA)
Derry Dillon - (Macra na Feirme)
Gerry Looby - (UCD)
Margaret McLoughlin welcomed the group and introduced the CSO members and outlined the primary aims/objectives of the ASLG. Margaret then summarised the agenda for the meeting. The agenda was adopted without amendment.
The Terms of Reference (ToR) were agreed and Margaret opened discussion to the floor. Ann Derwin thanked Margaret & agreed that all of the points in the ToR were within the scope of transforming the Public Sector and is a very worthwhile initiative. Tom Quinlivan agreed that the ToR were worthwhile and his area would provide whatever assistance possible. Bernard Hyde echoed Ann’s and Tom’s comments and added that the CSO’s Survey of Agricultural Production Methods (SAPM) survey provided a good opportunity to collect/confirm manure statistics. He agreed to collaborate in any way possible. Gerry Looby said that he is looking at the ASLG from the point of view of a user/consumer of data. He is particularly interested in regional data and was wondering about access to this. Steve explained about the process by which researchers can become “Officers of Statistics” in order to access microdata. CSO agreed to circulate details of this process to the group.
Hilda McCarthy explained how the SPAR Report (Statistical Potential of Administrative Records) was part of the basis for the ASLG meeting. The National Statistics Board recommended that the SPAR Report be reviewed. Hilda gave an update on the progress of the Census of Agriculture (COA) 2010, and gave an overview of the CSO’s data transmissions to Eurostat as well as some other Eurostat requests including Rural Development Indicators (RDI) and Agri-Environment Indicators (AEI). She outlined the challenges facing the CSO including creation of an accurate register, reducing response burden, maintaining respondent cooperation, meeting increasing statistical demands, maintaining timeliness and the coordination and quality assurance role of the CSO.
Bernard Hyde asked about revisions to CSO figures for 2001 to 2009 resulting from the COA 2010 and when these would be released. Hilda responded that the Eurostat deadline for transmission of the COA 2010 data is March 2012, so revisions would not be complete before then. Bernard explained that the EPA is currently working on figures for KYOTO and that CSO data forms an integral part of these submissions. The KYOTO work will be reporting in early 2014.
Ann Derwin gave a summary of some of the work going on in DAFM and gave an overview of the data holdings under the categories of People, Animals and Land.
Steve MacFeely added that administrative data is rarely in a form that is ready to be used for statistical purposes without accompanying expert knowledge . The example was cited of how DAFM’s Corporate Client System formed the basis for the CSO’s register of agricultural holdings for the COA, but this file also contained records corresponding to people who were assigned herd numbers during the Avian Flu period.
Ann told the group that approximately 36% of applications for the SFP are currently made online. She referred to the Customer Snapshot System, which gives the current status of a customer’s dealing across all areas in the Department.
Tom Quinlivan indicated that DAFM have many databases. Ann added that the first step in trying to amalgamate these is the Customer Snapshot System. At the moment it is only linking three schemes (AIM, SPS and Disadvantaged Area Scheme) but the plan is to incorporate more.
Rowena asked if DAFM could e-mail, to the ASLG members, the main contact person for each scheme/database. She mentioned that the CSO alerts its main users to new releases and publications and asked if DAFM could do something similar.
The group discussed the issue of non-unique herd numbers and Ann indicated that “associated herd number” was stored in the AHCS database.
Geoff Dooley asked if the disease information stored on AHCS is communicated back to the farmer. Ann responded that DAFM is responsible for only Class A diseases (TB and BSE) and that it would be Animal Health Ireland (AHI) who would have responsibility for non-statutory diseases.
Fiona O’Callaghan asked about the tagging system for sheep and if there was a potential to use this in the same way as the AIM is being used for cattle. Ann responded that there are derogations on this for some younger animals so the tagging system would not offer a complete count of all sheep. Bernard Hyde suggested that information on slaughtering could be used to account for these younger animals.
Bernard Hyde presented some slides on EPA data needs and requirements. Bernard referred to a recent press release indicating that Ireland’s emissions had come down. He said that this was recession based, rather than due to any changes in operations. He mentioned that the categories of Pig that are collected on the CSO survey forms may not necessarily reflect how a farmer would classify the animal. He also mentioned that the EPA holds a full DED version of the 2000 Agriculture Census which they used for the CORINE project. Ireland is currently not meeting its NOX targets and Bernard was interested in getting more detailed information on farm machinery.
Rowena Dwyer asked where the CSO stood in terms of using DAFM data. Hilda confirmed that the CSO plans to continue using AIM data for cattle and that work is being done on possibly using the DAFM Sheep& Goat Census to collect sheep figures, and further investigation will be done on NPITS (pig tracing system). The CSO will investigate eliminating its December Livestock survey completely, but would continue to publish results based on administrative sources. Rowena also asked about the aggregate Inputs/Outputs data in the Agriculture Accounts series and whether or not this could be made available at a component level. CSO pointed out the confidentiality issues surrounding some of these items.
Peter Duggan raised the issue of reviewing beef exports data provided in the annual Meat Supply Balance. CSO has already commenced work on this.
Brian Moran thanked the CSO. He raised an issue they had with DAFM data where the name does not always match the herd number. Ann Derwin explained that this is most likely because the situation can arise where the herd owner and herd keeper are not the same person. Brian was looking for information on manure – importing of manure and quantities of same. Tom Quinlivan said that this is not measured. Hilda said that the SAPM asked about percentages of manure imported onto the farm although results are not yet available. Brian also asked about energy use on farms and how much farmers pay for electricity. Bernard Hyde responded that EPA had some estimates on this and would discuss same with Brian.
Ann Derwin asked about employment in agriculture and if the CSO could give feedback from the COA as soon as results become available. CSO noted this.
Gerry Looby asked about directing students to either the CSO or to DAFM for assistance. Steve explained that the CSO has an arrangement with UCC whereby any PhD students could contact the CSO before they undertake their own surveys themselves or before deciding on a research topic.
Geoff Dooley added that a great difficulty is getting data that is economically useful and wondered if that aspect of analysis should be kept in mind when collecting the data. He thought that the concept of a data map (summarising what data each organisation holds) was a good idea. Margaret suggested the STATCENRAL.IE website and that the ASLG could work collectively towards providing more information on reports on this website.
In relation to cereals, Bernard Hyde stated that the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) started in 2000/2001 and caution is required for data relating to the early years of the system. He will provide a list of contact persons for some of the Agri-environment data available.
Teagasc informed the group that they have done surveys on PC penetration in farm households. Derry Dillon mentioned that Macra na Feirme also have information on PC usage in farm households. This may prove useful if on-line data collection was to be developed.
Rowena also asked about geo-coordinates of farms, and Brian Moran said that he would be interested in how the CSO handles the coordinates from a confidentiality point of view.
Hilda McCarthy wrapped up the meeting and explained that minutes and all presentations would be emailed to the group. The next meeting of the ASLG was proposed for April 2011.