Location: Hybrid format: CSO Dublin, Ardee Road / Microsoft Teams
Date: Tuesday 27th Novemeber 2025 14:00 - 16:00
Chair: Orla McCarthy (CSO)
Secretary: Kevin Hunt (CSO)
CSO: Clare O’Hara (CSO), Robert Stapleton (CSO), James Hegarty (CSO), Jason Sibley (CSO)
Departments: Mike Fahy (D/FIN), Patrick Gaynor (D/PER), Andrew Moran (D/Taoiseach), Robert Keenan (D/Taoiseach), Róisín Mulligan (D/Transport), Sarah-Jane Burns (NTA).
Agencies: George Hussey (CCAC), Jeanne Spillane (UCC), Clíodhna Ní Shé (UCD), : Lucia Benavente (EPA), Tomás Murray (EPA), Andrés Estévez (ESRI), Lee Carroll (SEAI), Shannon Finnan (SEAI), Andrew O’Callaghan (SEAI), Tomás Mac Uidhir (UCC), Monika Pedroso (UCD).
Chair Orla McCarthy (CSO) introduced the meeting. A wide number of data interests and stakeholders are represented by the group. Comments and questions on CSO data will inform the direction of data services. Minutes from the previous meeting were passed without amendments.
Kevin Hunt (CSO) presented on recent CSO Climate and Energy publications and gave an update on the preparation and publication of energy related research microdata files. The first, linking Census household information with Building Energy Ratings and metered energy consumption for 2022, is available for applications by researchers. The second, a longitudinal file linking domestic Building Energy Ratings and metered energy consumption by year, is in preparation and will be published next year. There was discussion of access requirements and the nature of the data provided, information on which is available through CSO documentation.
Robert Stapleton (CSO) presented key findings from the recent release of the “Household Environmental Behaviours – Energy Use 2024” survey. Users were invited to give feedback or suggestions for the next iteration of the survey in 2026.
Orla McCarthy (CSO) presented updates from the Climate Data Rescue Project, which is ongoing. CSO are working with Met Éireann to transcribe and clean historical data from eight weather stations around Ireland.
James Hegarty (CSO) presented plans for a CSO Climate Change Indicators project. The target audience is non-expert users, presenting 15-20 indicators of relevance. The selection of indicators will take place over the next few months and will involve consultation with users and market research in the design. Members of the liaison group were invited to participate and offer suggestions on design and contents of this product.
The meeting concluded with a roundtable discussion on data priorities from users, both climate and energy related. These included the financial side of climate change impacts, mitigation steps being taken, social issues of energy poverty, including transport poverty, and ways to assess unmetered or secondary fuel use in the residential sector.