Next year's Estimate for the Central Statistics Office has almost doubled due to the census which will be carried out in April.
The funds provided for the collection of statistics have increased from £4.97 million this year to £19 million in 2001, to account for this extra work. The last census was carried out in 1996.
The Department of Finance has estimated that the CSO's total spending will be over £43 million next year, compared with an estimate of £22.5 million this year.