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21 1993

STATISTICS ACT, 1993

PART II

Institutional Structure — The Central Statistics Office, The Director General and The National Statistics Board

The Central Statistics Office

Institutional structure.

8. —(1) There is hereby established an Office to be known as the Central Statistics Office to exercise the functions conferred on it by this Act.

(2) The Director General appointed under section 12 of this Act shall be responsible for the management and control of the Office.

(3) There shall be a National Statistics Board which with the agreement of the Taoiseach shall have the general function of guiding the strategic direction of the Office.

Staff of the Central Statistics Office.

9. —(1) There shall be employed in the Central Statistics Office so many members of staff as the Taoiseach shall, with the concurrence of the Minister for Finance, from time to time determine.

(2) The members of the staff of the Office shall be civil servants of the State.

(3) The Taoiseach shall be the appropriate authority for the purpose of the Civil Service Commissioners Act, 1956 , and the Civil Service Regulation Acts, 1956 and 1958 , in relation to members of the staff of the Office.

(4) The Taoiseach may delegate to the Director General the powers exercisable by him as the appropriate authority in relation to members of the staff of the Office and, if he does so, then, so long as the delegation remains in force—

(a) those powers shall, in lieu of being exercisable by the Taoiseach, be exercisable by the Director General; and

(b) the Director General shall, in lieu of the Taoiseach, be the appropriate authority in relation to members of the staff of the Office.

Functions of Office.

10. —(1) The functions of the Office shall be the collection, compilation, extraction and dissemination for statistical purposes of information relating to economic, social and general activities and conditions in the State.

(2) The Office shall have authority to co-ordinate official statistics compiled by public authorities to ensure, in particular, adherence to statistical standards and the use of appropriate classifications.

(3) The Office shall have authority to assess the statistical potential of the records maintained by public authorities and, in conjunction with them, to ensure that this potential is realised in so far as resources permit.

Co-operation and liaison with other public authorities and persons.

11. —(1) The Office may make arrangements with other public authorities and persons for the collection, compilation, extraction or dissemination of information for statistical purposes.

(2) The Office shall maintain close and regular contact with the principal users and suppliers of statistics.

The Director General

The Director General of the Central Statistics Office.

12. —(1) The Director General of the Office shall be appointed by the President on the nomination of the Taoiseach.

(2) The Director General shall be a corporation sole by the name of the Director General of the Central Statistics Office with perpetual succession and a seal and may sue or be sued by that name.

(3) The person holding the office of Director General shall be a civil servant of the State.

(4) The Director General shall hold office on such terms and conditions as may be determined by the Taoiseach after consultation with the Minister for Finance.

(5) The Taoiseach shall be the appropriate authority for the purpose of the Civil Service Commissioners Act, 1956 , and the Civil Service Regulation Acts, 1956 and 1958, in relation to the Director General.

Independence on statistical matters.

13. —The Director General shall have the sole responsibility for and be independent in the exercise of the functions of deciding—

(a) the statistical methodology and professional statistical standards used by the Office;

(b) the content of statistical releases and publications issued by the Office; and

(c) the timing and methods of dissemination of statistics compiled by the Office.

Access to the Taoiseach.

14. —The Director General shall have the right to consult the Taoiseach concerning any matters affecting the Office or relating to official statistics or the administration of this Act.

Delegation of functions of Director General.

15. —(1) The Director General may authorise any member of the staff of the Office to exercise any of his functions under this Act and any such function shall, when exercised for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to have been exercised by the Director General.

(2) An authorisation under subsection (1) of this section—

(a) may be made subject to such terms and conditions as the Director General may determine;

(b) shall, while in force, not prevent the discharge by the Director General of the functions thereby delegated; and

(c) may at any time be revoked by the Director General.

Authenticity of documents.

16. —A document purporting to be issued by the Director General or by any person exercising any of his functions under this Act shall, unless the contrary is proved, be deemed to be such if the name of the person concerned is printed or stamped thereon or if it purports to be signed by that person, without proof of the authenticity of the signature.

Appointment of temporary staff.

17. —The Director General, with the consent of the Minister for Finance and on such terms and conditions of service as he may determine, may make temporary appointments to unestablished posts on the staff of the Office declared to be excluded positions for the purposes of the Civil Service Commissioners Act, 1956 .

The National Statistics Board

Composition and appointment.

18. —(1) The National Statistics Board shall consist of eight members comprising the following seven persons who shall be appointed by the Taoiseach—

(a) five persons of proven ability and experience in relevant fields, two of whom shall be nominated by the Taoiseach and three of whom shall be nominated by such organisation or organisations as the Taoiseach considers to be representative of the users of official statistics and providers of information under this Act,

(b) an Assistant Secretary or equivalent or higher grade in the Department of the Taoiseach, and

(c) an Assistant Secretary or equivalent or higher grade in the Department of Finance,

together with the Director General, ex officio.

(2) The Chairman of the National Statistics Board shall be appointed by the Taoiseach from among the members of the Board appointed under subsection (1) (a) of this section.

(3) Every member of the Board appointed by the Taoiseach shall be appointed to hold office for such period, not being less than two or more than six years, as the Taoiseach may specify when appointing him.

(4) A member of the National Statistics Board may be reappointed.

(5) A member of the Board appointed by the Taoiseach may resign his office by letter addressed to the Taoiseach and may be removed from his office by the Taoiseach.

(6) A member appointed under subsection (1) (b) or (c) of this section shall cease to hold office if he ceases to hold the relevant civil service position.

(7) The Board may exercise its functions notwithstanding one or more vacancies in its membership.

(8) The Board may regulate its own procedure.

(9) The nominated members of the Board may be paid, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, such remuneration and allowances for expenses incurred by them as the Taoiseach, with the concurrence of the Minister for Finance, may determine.

Function of National Statistics Board.

19. —(1) The function of the National Statistics Board in guiding, with the agreement of the Taoiseach, the strategic direction of the Office shall include in particular—

(a) establishing priorities for the compilation and development of official statistics;

(b) assessing the resources of staff, equipment and finance which should be made available for the compilation of official statistics;

(c) arbitrating, subject to the final decision of the Taoiseach, on any conflicts which may arise between the Office and other public authorities relating to the extraction of statistics from records or to the co-ordination of statistical activities.

(2) The Director General shall provide such information as may be required by the Board for the proper exercise of its functions.

(3) Nothing in subsection (1) or (2) of this section shall be construed as—

(a) enabling the Board to exercise any power or control in relation to the performance, in a particular case or in particular circumstances, of a function assigned to the Director General by or under this Act;

(b) authorising appointed members of the Board to have access to information collected under this Act which can be directly or indirectly related to an identifiable person or undertaking.

Officers of Statistics

Officers of statistics.

20. —Each of the following persons—

(a) every member of the staff of the Office and any other person directly engaged by the Office in the collection or extraction of information under this Act,

(b) every other person who, consequent on arrangements made under subsection (1) of section 11 of this Act, is for the time being engaged in and about the collection, extraction, compilation or dissemination of information under this Act, and

(c) any other person authorised in writing by the Director General to perform for a specified period particular statistical analysis which may necessitate access to data collected under this Act,

shall, for the purposes of this Act, be and is in this Act referred to as an officer of statistics.

Declaration of secrecy.

21. —Every person shall before assuming duties as an officer of statistics sign a declaration in the following form—

“I,______________________, solemnly declare that I will fully and honestly fulfil my duties as an officer of statistics in conformity with the requirements of the Statistics Act, 1993, and of all orders thereunder, and that I will not, except in the performance of my duties under that Act and such orders, disclose or make known during my service as an officer of statistics or at any time thereafter, any matter which comes to my knowledge relating to any person, family, household or undertaking by reason of my service as an officer of statistics.”.

Evidence of appointment.

22. —(1) Every officer of statistics who is entitled under this Act to—

(a) require or invite in person the completion and return of any document or the provision of any information orally or in writing from any person or undertaking,

(b) inspect, copy or take extracts from, collect or receive any document relating to any person or undertaking, or

(c) enter any premises,

shall be provided with a certificate of appointment signed by, stamped or printed with, the name of the Director General.

(2) An officer of statistics acting under this section shall on demand produce his certificate of appointment for inspection.

(3) A document produced by a person in pursance of this section and purporting to be his certificate of appointment shall, unless the contrary is proved, be deemed without further proof to be such.