Memorandum of Understanding - CSO and Quality and Qualifications Ireland

Memorandum of Understanding between the Central Statistics Office and Quality and Qualifications Ireland in relation to technical matters, data exchange, security, quality, frequency.

This Memorandum of Understanding is made on the 20th of February 2025 between the Central Statistics Office, Skehard Road, Cork, T12 X00E (the CSO) and Quality and Qualifications Ireland, 26/27 Denzille Lane, Dublin 2, D02 P266 (QQI).

List of abbreviations
ADC Administrative Data Governance and Analysis (at the CSO)
CSO Central Statistics Office
MoU Memorandum of Understanding
JLG Joint Liaison Group
QQI Quality and Qualifications Ireland

Establishment of the Parties
The Central Statistics Office was established in 1949 and became a statutory body in 1994, under the Statistics Act, 1993. Quality and Qualifications Ireland is a state agency and was established in 2012 under the Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Act 2012.

The Role of the Parties
The functions of the Central Statistics Office are set out in the Statistics Act, 1993. In particular Section 10 states that the functions of the Office are the collection, compilation, extraction and dissemination for statistical purposes of information relating to economic, social and general activities and conditions in the State. The Office has the authority to co-ordinate official statistics compiled by public authorities to ensure, in particular, adherence to statistical standards and the use of appropriate classifications and has the authority to assess the statistical potential of the records maintained by public authorities and to ensure that the potential is realised. Furthermore, the CSO has legal obligations regarding the development, production and dissemination of European statistics under Regulation (EC) No. 223/2009 of 11 March 2009.

QQI is a state agency under the aegis of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation & Science. It is responsible for promoting the quality, integrity and reputation of Ireland's further and higher education system, ensuring that learners achieve qualifications that are valued nationally and internationally. QQI's mission is to sustain public confidence in the quality, integrity and reputation of Ireland's further and higher education providers and provide authoritative information on the diverse range of qualifications included in the National Framework of Qualifications.

Context and background
Data provided to the CSO under this agreement shall be treated as strictly confidential, and used solely for statistical purposes. This shall be done in accordance with the Statistics Act, 1993, in particular section 30 which deals with access to and use of the records of Public Authorities for statistical purposes.

Purpose of the Memorandum of Understanding
The purpose of this MoU is to clarify the roles and responsibilities of, as well as the areas of cooperation between, CSO and QQI with regard to QQI sharing data with the CSO. This agreement is a MoU and is not intended to create binding or legal obligations on either Party. The MoU is entered into on the understanding that it is subordinate to the relevant legislation governing each Party. This MoU also sets out a shared understanding of the parties in relation to data protection issues that may arise and roles relating to the compilation, transfer and use of this data. The processing of personal data of data subjects is governed by the Statistics Act, 1993 and the Data Protection Acts 1988-2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation.

Responsibilities of each Party
The data controller for personal data is QQI. When the data is transferred to the CSO, the CSO becomes the data controller. It follows then that it is the responsibility of the CSO to report any data breaches relating to the data, once it is in their possession. In the event of a breach relating to data the CSO will inform the Data Protection Officer of QQI and also inform the QQI of the breach through the JLG. This notification will be made within 24 hours. In addition, the CSO will refer to their own data breach procedures and may report the breach to the Data Protection Commission as
appropriate. The QQI will notbe held responsible for any loss,damage or injury caused as a result of such a breach. In the event of a breach relating to data the CSO will inform the QQI through the JLG, in advance, of any decision to issue a public statement in relation to the breach. Similarly, the QQI will inform the CSO through the JLG, in advance, of any decision to issue a public statement in relation to the breach. QQI will not provide additional data or operational support in respect of the notification of data subjects in the event of a breach relating to CSO data.

Legal background
Transfer and processing of the data shall be done in accordance with the Statistics Act, 1993, the Data Protection Acts 1988-2018, the General Data Protection Regulation, EU law and in accordance with the CSO’s Code of Practice, in particular its protocol on data matching where one or more datasets originate from outside of the CSO. The transfer and processing of the data is covered by, inter alia, the following provisions:

• Section 13 of the Statistics Act, 1993, concerning the statistical independence
  of the Director General of the CSO;
• Sections 30 and 31 of the Statistics Act, 1993 concerning the use of the records
  of public authorities for statistical purposes;
• Sections 32 and 33 of the Statistics Act, 1993, concerning the protection of
  information;
• Section 24(2) of the Statistics Act, 1993 (as amended by Section 178 of the Data
  Protection Act), concerning the provision of information to the CSO;
• Article 6(1)(c) of the General Data Protection Regulation;
• Article 6(1)(e) of the General Data Protection Regulation;
• Article 89 of the General Data Protection Regulation;
• Section 42 of the Data Protection Act 2018;

Data transfer, security and data storage
ExtractsoftheQQIAwardsdatabasewillbetransferredtotheCSOonanannualbasis. The files will be transferred by Secure File Transfer Protocol. Data will be retained, securely stored and processed by the CSO in accordance with CSO and ADC Data Policies. QQI will provide the CSO with the data in an agreed format. Information on data formats and delivery frequency shall be provided by the QQI in respect of the data files schedule. In accordance with CSO policies on the control of data the CSO will not copy this data onto removable media (including laptop computers) unless appropriate security provisions are in place (i.e., encryption and password access) and there is an agreed business need to do so, in which case the CSO will inform QQI of such need via the JLG.

Joint Liaison Group
A QQI and CSO Joint Liaison Group (JLG) will be convened, in accordance with the CSO’s standard Data Governance Framework. The JLG will oversee the data sharing as agreed between the parties and summarised in this MoU. The Terms of Reference (ToR) for the JLG will be agreed between the Quality and Qualifications Ireland and Central Statistics Office. The ToR will cover, amongst other things,membershipoftheJLG,frequencyofmeetingsandscopeoftheJLG. Changes to the ToR must be jointly agreed by both parties.

Duration and Review of the Memorandum of Understanding
This MoU will be published on the CSO website (www.cso.ie) and the QQI website. This MoU will remain in force until a new one is entered into or either the CSO or QQI revoke it. Depending on events, this MoU may be amended, subject to the mutual agreement of QQI and CSO. This MoU will be reviewed biennially by the both the QQI and the CSO. Any changes to the MoU shall only be made with the mutual agreement of the QQI and CSO.

Signed: Jennifer Banim, Director General, Central Statistics Office
Date: 20 February 2025

Signed: Padraig Walsh, Chief Executive Officer, Quality and Qualifications Ireland
Date: 17 February 2025