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Taoiseach Launches Census 2016
Taoiseach Enda Kenny at the launch of Census 2016 with Teresa Moran (100) and Dorothea Findlater (106). Dorothea has been counted in every Census since the birth of the state
Taoiseach Enda Kenny today launched Census 2016. The census will take place on Sunday 24th April, giving the people of Ireland the chance to make their mark on the future.
Speaking at the launch of Census 2016 at Government Buildings this morning, Taoiseach Enda Kenny outlined the importance of everyone taking part in Census 2016:
By participating in the census on the 24th April, each and every one of us will help to shape our understanding about life in Ireland today. We will also show how, as a country, we have changed and are changing over time. Importantly, it will also equip us to plan for the Ireland of tomorrow.
The census alone collects information from every single household. The information it provides, therefore, is a vital input to important decisions we take on where to build new schools, where transport is needed, where the population is aging and in need of more support.
The results of the census are an important resource which are available to all. Census 2016 will take place exactly 100 years to the day that the Easter Rising began, and the results of this Census will be of great interest to the historians of the future as they look back and reflect on life in Ireland in 2016.
Pádraig Dalton, Director General of the Central Statistics Office, noted the extent of the work involved in making the census happen:
The census of population, carried out every five years, is the CSO’s largest and most challenging statistical operation. Counting every single person in the state on a single night is no easy task and, as you can imagine, an enormous amount of work has already gone into this census to get us here today. This forthcoming census on the 24th April will be a traditional census which means census forms will be delivered by hand to every household in the state over the next five weeks, and will then be collected in person. The CSO rely heavily on the dedication and commitment of our census enumerators and field managers to do this work on our behalf. I have every confidence that our 5,200 field staff will carry out this census with total professionalism and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them in advance.
See http://census.ie/ for more information.