1. Dr Patricia O’Hara Chair, National Statistics Board
CSO Fifth Administrative Data Seminar Making the Irish Statistical System World Class
Dr Patricia O’Hara
Chair, National Statistics Board

2. National Statistics Board
Establish priorities for the development of official statistics in Ireland
Guide the broad strategic direction of CSO
NSB take a whole system approach – using the term Irish Statistical System (ISS)
1993 statistics Act

3. NSB Vision for the Irish Statistical System
A world class system of official statistics using the best available data to provide high quality, independent and accessible information for Ireland
Achieving this means building a national data infrastructure

4. A world class system makes great use of administrative data
National Data Infrastructure (NDI)
Creation of Registers which can only work if based on unique identifiers
Well established elsewhere – Denmark 1960s and 70s, other Nordic, Netherlands

5. A National Data Infrastructure
Educa-
tion
Employ-
ment
CRS
Geo
directory
CRO
Person id:
People
PPSN
Enterprise id:
Businesses
UBI
Dwelling id:
Buildings
EIRCODE
Inter-
view
Tax
Social
Question-
naire
Health
etc
VAT
Mention each of the registers and explain significance of unique identifiers and Eircode
Eircodes
The key : Permanent official identification (PPSN, UBI, EIRCODE)

6. Why is NDI important for Ireland?
Gaps and inaccuracies in data compromise our ability to consider policy options and respond effectively to problems
Good data needed to develop and evaluate policy measures and to target and deliver public services
Joined up data will deliver vast improvements in efficiency through elimination of duplication and waste, and ultimately deliver significant cost-saving
We are behind the curve compared to other developed countries in our capacity to produce evidence for policy
NSB: Joined Up Government Needs Joined Up Data
Data management critical to shared services, elimination of silos, whole of government approach

7. Administrative Data
Open Data
Big Data
Research Data

8. NDI – Benefits for official statistics
Could have register-based Census by 2026 at estimated 15% of current cost
Dynamic ‘live’ population and labour force statistics
Substantial cost savings in other domains with reduced need for surveys
Huge improvement in quality of data – through less reliance on samples, better timeliness, reduced respondent burden
Integrated, longitudinal, time series statistics for policy and planning

9. NDI – Benefits for policy and administration
Base policy measures on research results and target services more effectively – particular age categories; social groups; areas; enterprises
Simulation modelling to consider impact of policy proposals and decisions
Greatly improved ability to plan and target expenditure at local level and deliver services effectively
Transformed ability to measure impact, monitor and evaluate policy measures and service delivery