Press Statement

Preasráiteas

30 March 2022

Census 2022 takes place on Sunday 03 April. Every person present in Ireland on this night is legally required to be included on a Census form. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today requested that anyone who has not yet received a Census form, or been contacted by an enumerator, makes contact with them to ensure they can fulfil their obligation.

Eileen Murphy, Head of Census Administration at the CSO had this advice: “This Sunday we will all come together to complete our Census forms. It is a straightforward form that doesn’t take long to complete. It is also a legal requirement and so it’s important that people complete it on Sunday evening.

Over the past number of weeks, a team of enumerators have been busily delivering Census forms to every home in Ireland. To date over 1.7 million have been delivered and they will continue to deliver forms right up to Census night. However there are ongoing challenges in accessing apartments, gated communities and delivering to homes with locked post boxes.”

Ms Murphy urged anyone who has not yet received a Census form to take action. “If you have not yet received a Census form but have a calling card from your enumerator please make contact with them without delay. If you have not yet had any contact from an enumerator you should contact the CSO on the helpdesk form on our website, census.ie or call us on 0818 2022 04.

This year’s Census will collect information that will be vital for the planning of public services in every community across Ireland. Census 2022 will have a direct impact on the decisions in all major policy areas including health, housing, and education. It is important for everyone to be accurately counted.”

Ms Murphy also encouraged families to take time to consider how they plan to use the Time Capsule, a new addition to Census 2022. “This year’s Census contains a ‘time capsule’ in which participants can record anything they wish. The time capsule entries will not be made public until 2122, providing a truly unique opportunity to ‘be counted’ not just in 2022 but in a century’s time. Families and households could spend some time over the coming days to think and talk about what message they want to put in their Time Capsule.”

Practical information regarding the filling out of the Census form:

• Keep your Census form in a safe place both before and after completion
• If you have not yet received a form contact the CSO on 0818 2022 04 or via the helpdesk form on census.ie
• Each individual’s information must be recorded where they sleep on Census night 03 April
• Mark boxes with a ― rather than a tick
• Write clearly, using block capitals, only enter one letter per box
• Use a blue or black pen
• If you make a mistake, follow the advice on the front page of the census form
• The Census form must be completed in Irish or English, however, language guides and accessibility supports are available on census.ie

The team of Census enumerators will be hitting the streets once again in the coming weeks to collect completed census forms. All forms should be collected before 06 May.

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