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This Memorandum of Understanding is made on the 11th of December 2024 between The Central Statistics Office (CSO), Skehard Road, Cork, T12 X00E, and An Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), Crofton Road, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin, A96 E5A0.
List of abbreviations
Definitions of terms
Establishment of the parties
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) was established in 1949 and became a statutory body in 1994, under the Statistics Act, 1993 (the ‘Act’).
An Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) was established under The Irish Sea Fisheries Act in 1952 (the ‘1952 Act’).
The role of the parties
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.
BIM is a state agency that supports and develops the Irish seafood industry. BIM provides technical expertise, business support, funding, and training.
Context and background
Data, as set out at the Appendix, shall be provided to the CSO under Section 30 of the Act, which governs the ‘Use of Records of Public Authorities for Statistical Purposes’. This MoU serves as a notice request for the purpose of Section 30 of the Act.
Purpose of the MoU
The purpose of this MoU is to clarify the roles and responsibilities of, as well as the areas of cooperation between the CSO and BIM with regard to the transmission and use of BIM data for the purposes of compiling official aquaculture statistics including:
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 this data. The processing of personal data of data subjects is governed by the Act, and the Data Protection Act 2018 (the ‘2018 Act’) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Oversight
Both parties, BIM & the CSO, agree to nominate representatives from each organisation to meet on an ongoing basis in accordance with the CSO’s standard Data Governance Framework. These representatives will oversee the data sharing activities summarized in this MoU.
The nominated representatives will meet on a regular basis to:
These meetings will be scheduled at mutually agreed intervals and documented to maintain transparency and accountability.
Responsibilities of each party
The controller for personal data is BIM. When the data is transferred to the CSO, the CSO becomes the controller of the data file it holds. It follows then that it is the responsibility of the CSO to report any data breaches relating to the data, once it is in its possession.
In the event of a breach relating to data, the CSO will inform the Data Protection Officer of BIM and also inform BIM of the breach through the nominated representatives. 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. BIM 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 BIM, in advance, of any decision to issue a public statement in relation to the breach. Similarly, BIM will inform the CSO, in advance, of any decision to issue a public statement in relation to the breach.
BIM 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 Act, the 2018 Act, the GDPR, 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:
Data transfer, security, and storage
The specific data to be transmitted, the frequency of transmission, the timeliness and the method of transfer are detailed in the Appendix. Data will be retained, securely stored, and processed by the CSO in accordance with CSO policies.
BIM will provide the CSO with the data in an agreed format. Information on data shall be provided by BIM. 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 BIM.
Duration and review of the MoU
This MoU will be published on the CSO website (cso.ie).
This MoU will remain in force until a new one is entered into or either the CSO or BIM revoke it. Depending on events, this MoU may be amended, subject to the mutual agreement of BIM and the CSO.
This MoU will be reviewed annually by both BIM and the CSO. Any changes to the MoU shall only be made with the mutual agreement of the BIM and the CSO.
Any variables determined to no longer be required by the CSO shall be handled in accordance with the office’s retention policy.
Signed: Jennifer Banim, Director General, Central Statistics Office
Date: 11 December 2024
Signed: Caroline Bocquel, Chief Executive Officer, An Bord Iascaigh Mhara
Date: 12 December 2024
Appendix
Datafiles: Aquaculture production, value and structure data as required to compile aquaculture statistics for Eurostat reporting.
File metadata: The initial data transmission shall include all relevant metadata. If there are structural changes made to the files, each structural change will be accompanied by a metadata file, detailing the nature of the changes.
Frequency: Annual
Coverage: All licenced aquaculture enterprises within the State.
Timeliness: The data shall be transmitted no later than 6 months from the end of the reference year.
Transmission method: The data will be transmitted to the CSO using the CSO Secure Transfer Protocol (SFTP) server.
File format: Excel
List of variables, description, and purpose
| Variable | Description | Purpose | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Year | Data Year | Indicates year relevant to data |
| 2 | Flags | Indication of NUTS3 region | Data quality check |
| 3 | Country | County of site location | Data quality check |
| 4 | Area | Area of site location | Data quality check |
| 5 | Area Detail | Details of area of site location | Data quality check |
| 6 | Unique Business Identifier | Name of Business ID | Business ID |
| 7 | Address: Line 1 | Address of business | Data quality check |
| 8 | Address: Line 2 | Address of business | Data quality check |
| 9 | Form returned | Indication if business has responded to survey | Determines inclusion/exclusion for analysis |
| 10 | Production Status | Status (e.g. active, ceased, etc) | Determines inclusion/exclusion for analysis |
| 11 | Species Culture | Species | Required for reporting |
| 12 | Culture Group |
Culture group (broader category related to species,may be required to maintain confidentiality) |
Required for reporting |
| 13 | Production units | Total number of production units | Data quality check |
| 14 | T/Ref Survey | Geo-coordinates of site | Unique identifier and data quality check |
| 15 | Culture | Culture type (e.g. bottom, suspended, top) | Required for reporting |
| 16 | Production Stage | Production stage/Life cycle (e.g. eggs, juvenile, etc) | Required for reporting |
| 17 | Certification | Indication of certification, use to identify if organic | Required for reporting |
| 18 | Tonnes | Production in tonnes | Required for reporting |
| 19 | Consumer Ready | Indication if product is consumer ready | Required for reporting |
| 20 | Farther Process | Indication if product will be further processed | Determines inclusion/exclusion for analysis |
| 21 | Number Out | Quantity produced | Required for reporting |
| 22 | Av €/tonne | Value per tonne | Required for reporting |
| 23 | Tsales value | Sales value | Allows for calculation of value per tonne |
| 24 | Cap. Area | Capacity in terms of hectares | Required for reporting |
| 25 | Cap. M3 | Capacity in terms of cubic metres | Required for reporting |
| 26 | Data Received | Date survey was returned | Data quality check |
| 27 | TransferredToDBase | Indication of data transfer to BIM database | Data quality check |