This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Central Statistics Office (CSO). Over the past 50 years, I have used its output almost daily and benefited enormously from the help of staff who have produced analyses for me and given advice on how best to interpret the data.
In Luke’s Gospel, Martha complained that she had to do the hard work – presumably washing the dishes – while Mary enjoyed talking with Jesus. I often feel that the CSO is like Martha, doing the important work behind the scenes of gathering and publishing data, while I and other social scientists and policymakers have “fun” using the data in our work.
The CSO has operated largely under the radar, but plays a vital role in providing independent data to policy makers and researchers who need it as a basis for economic, social and regional planning and to understand the state of our economy and society.
When the CSO was founded in 1949, it was fortunate to have as its first Director Roy Geary, Ireland’s greatest statistician. Not only did he lead the institution in its early years, but he had also built an international reputation in mathematical statistics. In recognition of his expertise, he was appointed Head of the National Accounts Section of the United Nations Statistics Division in New York in 1957.
The CSO enjoys an excellent international reputation and performs an above-average job in the deliberations of Eurostat and other international statistical forums. In particular, the expertise developed by the CSO in measuring the activities of multinational corporations and identifying what is happening in the real economy is currently being used by the statistical authorities of the EU, the OECD and the UN to revise the way in which economic activity is measured in a globalised world.
( Despite increase in July, unemployment in Ireland still near historic lows – CSOOpens in new window. )
Since its inception, the CSO has been recognised as independent of government, although funded through the Irish Prime Minister’s Department. Unlike in some other countries, the role of the office has never been politicised. Legal independence is enshrined in the Statistics Act 1993. Official statistics are made available to everyone at the same time – no one in government is given a preview of the results, which could prove embarrassing.
Eurostat plays a major role in harmonising statistical data collection across the EU to enable cross-country comparisons and ensure the quality of statistics. Around 80 per cent of official statistics are now produced by Eurostat using common templates agreed at EU level. The size of the CSO has grown considerably, both to keep pace with the outputs required by Eurostat and to provide the data needed for policy-making and planning in a rapidly changing society.
From the mid-1980s, the widespread computerisation of administrative data opened up new opportunities for collecting statistical information. The Statistics Act 1993, which guarantees strict confidentiality in the sharing of data on identifiable individuals or businesses, also gave the CSO the task of coordinating all official statistics and the mandate to use administrative records for statistical purposes. The National Statistics Board, established in 1986 to advise the strategic direction of the CSO, has emphasised the potential of administrative data to complement household and business surveys. It has promoted the use of common identifiers such as the RSI number and Eircode to facilitate the anonymised linking of data from different sources.
( CSO study shows sharp rise in food and energy prices since 2016Opens in new window. )
The CSO creates anonymized microdata files that combine data from different sources, such as welfare or tax authorities, to enable important research. This work is particularly delicate because the data of individuals and companies must be absolutely protected. Although it can be frustrating for researchers to wait for a cleaned data file to be ready for analysis, the CSO takes great care to fully protect the personal data of individuals and appoints the researchers concerned as statistical officers who are subject to strict rules.
Although stats geeks like myself are probably the biggest users, it’s nice to see how the dissemination of statistical results to the general public has improved. You can check the popularity of baby names since 1960 (John is no longer at the top of parents’ wish lists). You can look at a statistical profile of your own town or village, and the profiles of Irish finalists are displayed prominently. We now know that one in 725 Skibbereen residents competed in the Paris Olympics.
The historic census forms from 1901 and 1911 tell a lot about the lives of our great-grandparents. We won’t be around to read the “time capsule” messages on the 2022 census forms, but hopefully the CSO will still be active in 2122.
