The 2023 Irish Annual Statistical Work Plan sets out the details of the official statistics that the CSO intends to produce for 2023 but also contains the statistical work plans for a number of other producers of national and European statistics in Ireland from across the Civil and Public Service (CPS).
In 2023 the work plan includes 428 planned releases from 25 organisations across the CPS, 27 of which are new products. See table below:
| Irish Annual Statistical Work Plan | No. of planned releases in 2023 | Of which “New” |
| CSO | 300 | 21 |
|---|---|---|
| CPS (24 organisations) | 128 | 6 |
| All | 428 | 27 |
As part of the annual planning cycle, each statistical production area in CSO are requested to document the statistical products planned for release in 2023, taking account of usual outputs, planned new outputs and outputs previously released but not planned in 2023.
Statistical products are defined as a documented set of data that are available to end users in one or more supports or formats. Each statistical product is counted only once on the statistical work plan, even if the product is disseminated more than once (e.g. a statistic that is released on a monthly or quarterly basis will only be counted once).
The information provided in the work plan for CPS planned statistical products is based on the content contained in the Register of Official Statistics. This register details the statistical outputs produced by government departments and other public sector bodies across the Irish Statistical System (ISS). See link to Register of Official Statistics.
This register is experimental in nature, the contents of which will continue to be expanded and developed over time. It is not a complete view of all statistics disseminated and there may be some outputs produced by departments or bodies that are not present on the register.
Due to the experimental nature of the register and its contents, this also has an impact on the content being presented in the statistical work plan for the CPS. The contents of both the Register and the CPS content on the statistical work plan will continue to be developed and refined over time as this concept matures. As stated not all products produced across the statistical system may be uploaded to the register and some products that are contained on the register may not be present on the statistical work plan due to their experimental nature or to the lack of availability of some key supplementary information.
The CSO was reviewed by a team of experts from other National Statistical Offices in Europe in February 2022 to ensure that all statistics produced meet the required standards and that the CSO adheres to all the principles as set out by the European Statistics Code of Practice (ES CoP). While the CSO has no compliance findings with the ES CoP, the Peer review report documented actions to assist in the further improvement and development of the national statistical system. One of these actions (Action 3) recommended that the CSO should present a consolidated work programme for the Irish Statistical System. This iteration of the Irish Annual Statistical Work plan is the first step in achieving this action. For more information see Peer Review Report Ireland 2022 (PDF 1,230KB) .
The Statistics Act, 1993 provides the legislative basis for the collection, compilation, extraction and dissemination for statistical purposes of information relating to economic, social and general activities and conditions in the State.
The Act protects the confidentiality of the information provided to the CSO, which may only be used for statistical purposes; and confidential data may not be disseminated or otherwise communicated to third parties including Government Departments or bodies.
The independent position of the CSO, as defined in the Statistics Act, 1993, reflects international best practice for the organisation of official statistics.
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 which was amended in 2015 by Regulation 2015/759, (see the consolidated text of amended Regulation 223/2009) establishes a legal framework for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics.
The Office provides high quality impartial and relevant statistical information to meet the needs of policy makers at national, regional and local level, decision makers in the business community, EU institutions, international organisations, media, researchers, and the public generally.
There is a significant international dimension to the CSO's work through the provision of statistics that may be compared directly with corresponding data for other countries. This is particularly the case in respect of our participation in the European Statistical System (ESS).
Meeting EU requirements has been the single most important factor shaping the development of the CSO's work since the 1970s. Since accession to the European Community in 1973 the CSO's work programme has been almost been completely driven by the mandatory requirements of EU Directives and Regulations.
All CSO statistics are published online on the CSO website (www.cso.ie) or on the Eurostat website (http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat). The annual statistical work plan is a comprehensive list of the CSO’s statistical products and distinguishes European statistics. While European statistics are determined by the European statistical programme, they also facilitate the CSO in meeting National demands and requirements.
The National Statistics Board 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; and 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 CSO subscribes fully to the UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics and the European Statistics Code of Practice. Throughout our work, we abide by the following core values:
The CSO Statement of Strategy 2020-2023 (PDF 651KB) outlines the CSO’s ambitions and sets out its strategic direction. The strategy is designed to fully exploit the potential of the data and technological revolution in order to deliver a broader range of high quality information on societal and economic change and in so doing to support the process of guiding Ireland’s future development.
The CSO will deliver the strategic aims as set out in the Statement of Strategy 2020 - 2023 by delivering our statistical work plan, our general work programme and our transformation work programme. We will report on these as part of the annual progress report on the Statement of Strategy and annual report on the statistical work plan. In addition, the CSO remains committed to the research and development of new products and alternative compilation methods for existing statistics.
The full description of products for 2023 is detailed within the Annual Statistical Work Plan list of Products.
