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Survey Name

Starting Strong Teaching and Learning International Survey Field Trial

Survey purpose and legal basis

This notice explains how the Central Statistics Office (CSO) uses personal data in the Starting Strong Teaching and Learning International Field Trial (the ‘TALIS Field Trial’). This notice also provides information, as required by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Starting Strong Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS Starting Strong) is an international large-scale survey of staff and leaders in Early Learning and Care which is conducted every six years under the auspices of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

TALIS Starting Strong compares early childhood settings within and across countries, highlighting diversity within systems and identifying points of commonality. Information gained from the data informs and facilitates policy discussions about staff’s working conditions and training needs, helping to enhance the overall quality of the workforce.

The Field Trial’s purpose is to test the survey to highlight any issues with processing, systems used and questionnaires.

Under Section 24 of the 1993 Statistics Act you are invited to undertake the survey on a voluntary basis and any information so obtained shall be subject to the restrictions on use and prohibition on disclosure of information specified in sections 32, 33, 34 and 35 of the 1993 Statistics Act.

The personal data collected will solely be used for the purposes of the Field Trial. It will be stored and retained in line with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. The legal basis for the processing is Article 6(1)(e) of the GDPR, and Section 38(1)(b) of the Data Protection Act 2018 – i.e. processing for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority.

Who uses the results?

The purpose of this is to trial the survey to highlight any issues with processing, systems used and questionnaires.

Is your personal data confidential and how long will the data be retained?

Yes. All information supplied to the Central Statistics Office (CSO) is treated as strictly confidential. The Statistics Act, 1993 sets stringent confidentiality standards: Information collected may be used only for statistical purposes, and no details that might be related to an identifiable person or business undertaking may be divulged to any other government department or body.

Data collected during the Field Trial will be anonymised at its conclusion. Both the anonymised data held by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) and the data held by CSO that you provide in this survey will be held no longer than October 2025, subject to survey requirements.

 

The sources and categories of your personal data, where the data has not been collected directly from you:

Selected childcare settings are asked to provide name, year of birth and role of all employees.

For further information on this survey, your Data Protection rights and how your data is used please contact:

Dr Amanda Quail, TALIS Survey, Central Statistics Office, Ardee Road, Rathmines, Dublin 6, D06 FX52

Telephone: (+353) 1 498 4000 

Email: talis@cso.ie

Data Protection Information:

Under the General Data Protection Regulation, you have the following rights:

  • The right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commission. Contact details: Office of the Data Protection Commission, 21 Fitzwilliam Square South, Dublin 2, D02 RD28, Ireland.
  • The right to request access, rectification, erasure, restriction or to object to the processing of your personal data.

However, because your data is processed for statistical purposes these rights may be limited in accordance with Article 89 of the GDPR. This is due to the fact that the exercise of any of these rights may render impossible, or seriously impair, the achievement of the statistical processing and such restriction maybe necessary for the fulfillment of those purposes.

Central Statistics Office Data Protection Officer Contact Details: