This Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is made on the 27th day of April 2026 between the Central Statistics Office (CSO), Skehard Road, Cork, T12 X00E and Sport Ireland (SI), The Courtyard, Sport Ireland Campus, Snugborough Road, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15, D15 PN0N.
CSO Central Statistics Office
GDPR General Data Protection Regulation
JLG Joint Liaison Group
MoU Memorandum of Understanding
SI Sport Ireland
SSA Sport Satellite Account
Act The Statistics Act, 1993
2015 Act The Sport Ireland Act, 2015
2018 Act The Data Protection Act, 2018
The CSO was established in 1949 and became a statutory body in 1994, under the Statistics Act, 1993 (the ‘Act’).
SI was established in 2015 and became a statutory body under the Sport Ireland Act, 2015 (the ‘2015 Act’).
The functions of the CSO are set out in the Act. 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 223/2009.The functions of SI are set out in the 2015 Act. In particular, Section 8 states that the functions of SI are to develop strategies for increasing participation in recreational sport at national and local level and to co-ordinate the implementation of those strategies by all bodies (including public authorities and bodies funded from moneys provided by the Oireachtas) involved in promoting recreational sport and providing recreational facilities. As such, SI is the national authority tasked with the development and promotion of sport in Ireland. This includes participation in sport, high performance sport, anti-doping, coaching and the development of the SI Campus.
Action 4 of the Sports Action Plan 2024-2027 tasked SI with exploring the development of a Sport Satellite Account (SSA) for Ireland to improve the understanding of the value of sport to the Irish economy. In 2021, SI commissioned a Value of Sport Report. A recommendation of this report was that a SSA be created for Ireland following EU recommendations and the Vilnius definition, which is accepted as the basis of a Satellite Account throughout the EU. It is anticipated that such an account could be updated annually, whenever CSO produces new Input Output Tables. In 2022 and 2023, Eurostat produced an analysis of Government expenditure on Sport and recreational services. In both percentage of GDP and percentage of Government expenditure, Ireland ranked 26 out of 27 EU countries. SI would like to commission a review of Government expenditure in sport to verify the Eurostat findings.
Being involved in sport enhances physical and mental health, both at individual and societal level. As such, involvement in sport has the capability to reduce public health expenditure. The 2021 SI Value of Sport Report established a clear methodology and description of the health value of sport in Ireland. SI wishes to update this analysis with the most recent research on the health benefits of physical activity and the most recent data on physical activity levels in Ireland.
SI’s interest is in commissioning data analysis of the most recently available National Accounts. We expect to receive new insights, not already available, which will be garnered from a fresh examination of raw data sources. This research will underpin advocacy for investment in sport and inform national sports policy. Findings from the research will need to be actionable by our key stakeholders (Government Departments and Agencies, National Governing Bodies and Local Sports Partnerships).
Under Section 11 of the Act, the CSO will co-operate and liaise with SI on the development of statistics in relation to sport in Ireland. Section 10 of the Act allows the CSO to ensure that any statistical outputs by SI, such as a SSA, adhere to appropriate statistical standards and classifications.
The purpose of this MoU is to clarify the roles and responsibilities of, as well as the areas of cooperation between, the CSO and SI.
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, set out below, under ‘Legal Background’, 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 data. The processing of personal data of data subjects is governed by the Act, the Data Protection Act, 2018, (the ‘2018 Act’), and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
A SI and CSO Joint Liaison Group (JLG) will be convened. The JLG will oversee the data sharing as agreed between the parties and as summarised in this MoU.
The Terms of Reference (ToR) for the JLG will be agreed between SI and the CSO. The ToR will cover, amongst other things, membership of the JLG, frequency of meetings and scope of the JLG. Changes to the ToR must be jointly agreed by both parties.
Responsibilities of Each Party
The controller for personal data is SI. When the data is transferred to the CSO, the CSO becomes the controller of the data file it holds. SI remains the controller for the data file held by it. It follows then that it is the responsibility of the CSO to report any data breaches relating to the data it holds.
In the event of a breach relating to data, the CSO will inform the Data Protection Officer of SIand also inform SI 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. SI will not be 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 SI through the JLG, in advance, of any decision to issue a public statement in relation to the breach. Similarly, SI will inform the CSO through the JLG, in advance, of any decision to issue a public statement in relation to the breach.
SI 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.
Transfer and processing of the data shall be done in accordance with Act, 2018 Act, GDPR, EU law and in accordance with the CSO’s Code of Practice, in particular its matching policy.
The transfer and processing of the data is covered by, inter alia, the following provisions:
This MoU will be published on the CSO website (cso.ie) and SI website (sportireland.ie). This MoU will remain in force until a new one is entered into or either the CSO or SI revoke it. Depending on events, this MoU may be amended, subject to the mutual agreement of SI and the CSO. This MoU will be reviewed biennially by both SI and the CSO. Any changes to the MoU shall only be made with the mutual agreement of SI and the CSO.
Signed: Jennifer Banim, Director General, CSO
Date: 11/05/2026
Signed: Dr Úna May, Chief Executive, SI
Date: 27/04/2026