CSO Pre-Release Access Policy

Pre-Release Access Policy

The CSO is Ireland's national statistical institute. Our role is to provide independent statistics about our society, economy, and environment. The statistics we produce are freely available to everyone and support evidence-informed decision making.  

We are committed to ensuring that all users of the statistics we produce will have equal access to statistical releases at the same time, and that any pre-release arrangement is limited, well-justified, controlled, and made public, as is set out in the European Statistics Code of Practice. This policy describes how pre-release access may be granted.

Pre-Release Access

In a limited number of circumstances, an individual may be granted pre-release access to a release if they:

• initiate a formal application for access by contacting the CSO’s Data Office at least 10 working days in advance of the release date;
• are employed by a public body;
• require the material in order to prepare a note which they will use to brief a minister or other senior government official at 11:00 – the official release time; and
• commit that the material will not be shared, in any way, before the official release time.

The application must be sponsored at or above Assistant Secretary grade, or equivalent, in the applicant’s organisation. The CSO’s Director General will have final approval of all pre-release access applications. Access is limited to 3 people in any organisation per release and will expire after 12 months. Where an individual or relevant Head of Division is aware an individual no longer requires access, they must inform the CSO’s Data Office.

The names of individuals who have been granted pre-release access are published here. Access is non-transferable. Any breach of the conditions of access may result in access being revoked and details of the breach being published.

There are strict protocols on how and when pre-release material can be issued. The material is:

• provided at 10:00, an hour before the official release time;
• sent in encrypted form via email, with the password communicated separately;
• limited to that which will be released at 11:00.

In a very limited set of circumstances the Director General may authorise an exception to these protocols.