Tick all the right boxes and give your real age, because the census is a serious business. But what is it for? The census co-ordinator answers some of Shane Hegarty's questions
Tomorrow night, as people tick the boxes on their census form, many are likely to be left with a few questions of their own. Does the wording of question 14 imply that Irish equates only to white skin? Can one's religious belief - or lack of it - be adequately summed up in question 13? Does habitually saying "slán" make you a daily speaker of Irish?
With new questions on ethnicity, volunteerism, relationships and fertility, and debate over the questions relating to religious belief, the build-up to census night has not been quiet. The Central Statistics Office's chief statistician, Aidan Punch, who has worked there for 33 years and is co-ordinating a census for the fourth time, has the air of a man well used to answering sticky questions.
"We don't mind being criticised," he says. "People have always questioned the census, and it's their right. This thing is going to every household in the State. People have their concerns, and I would try and be aware of them. We try and consult very widely beforehand in terms of the questions, but there's a limit to what you can do. The questions by necessity have to be very straightforward and the language very straightforward. In other words, you're not very much going for nuances and deep probing through interview and all that. So sometimes the questions come across as being rather brusque or rather categorical."
That questions are sometimes subjective also means some may have difficulty in answering honestly, given that every member of a household puts their information on a shared form. For instance, a question about "psychological or emotional" illness obviously raises issues of privacy. There is also a new question this year about the number of children "born alive" to women.
Given our social history, isn't it probable that there will be women who have not revealed this even to their own families? "There's no doubt about that, and you have to own up to that. Withstanding that, it's still worth asking the question," Punch says.
Those who wish to keep their details private can order a separate form, although it rarely happens. The CSO realises that despite some sensitive questions, lack of space leaves little room for subtlety.
"You have to compromise all the time. You have to compromise in terms of the number of categories you can show. The pre-tick boxes are very easy to deal with, compared to getting people to write in, which causes all sorts of problems in terms of processing."
The ethnicity question, making its debut, has been a hot issue this time around (see panels). Once the terms "black" and "white" are introduced, he admits, things get awkward. What, then, is the practical reason for the question?
"We already have good information on where people live, where they were born, their nationality, what their residence was one year ago. But I suppose this is the final piece in the jigsaw and you try and put it all together to get some snapshot of where Ireland is today. And five years down the road, we'll know to what extent it's changed."
Could a question like that be altered for the next census? "I'd say that's not a done deal. This is the first time we've run with it in a full census. Now clearly we have to see what experience comes out of that. And we have to obviously pull in the numbers in the context that we can categorise by nationality, by place of birth. And you can see the numbers and whether they make sense and whether we should be going by different sort of categorisations. Some questions evolve over time."
The question relating to the Irish language has been amended to separate those who speak in schools from those who speak it in daily life, but it still leaves no room for people who might speak a cúpla focail with their children, but wouldn't feel confident enough to call themselves a daily or weekly speaker.
"What does it mean to say you speak Irish?" asks Punch. "All I can say to you is that it's entirely subjective, on the one hand you would have people who would have a very basic proficiency and they would feel that they're not able to speak Irish. On the other hand you have people who might only be able to respond "sea" or "ní hea", and just because they feel very pro-Irish or whatever will say they can. That question is very subjective. All I can say is that this is the third time we asked that question, and on the last two times we used it the speakers were very comparable when analysed by age group, by sex, by education. It's remarkable how stable they are and that stability is coming through"
While the CSO gathers the information, it is up to others to put it to practical use. But as the public listens to the standard lines about it being vital for knowing what schools or hospitals are needed, or what the public transport needs are, they look around and wonder what impact the census has had on our infrastructure.
"Is the answer to that question that there shouldn't be any information gathered? Clearly, you need it. And you need to empower people, in other words they need to know what's going on in their own small area. And if everybody is covered, then you get a good picture of what the local communities are so you can plan provisions for schooling, or hospitals for older people. And housing is critical now."
He offers the CSO's work with the Dublin Transport Office as a concrete example. "It tracks the flow and how long people commute. I mean, in terms of public transport provision there's a raft of information on that form. And yet people still take two hours to go to work. So you can't win."
He expects no major surprises from this year's census. "A bad surprise for me is if our population estimates, which we have to do between censuses, is badly out. Surprise won't be the word, it would be saying we don't know what we're doing. We know about births and deaths, that's all fairly stable stuff. But the real thing is the number of people coming into and going out of the country. That'll be the big thing this time."
Meanwhile, the practicalites of handing out and collecting the census have become trickier. The homeless will be questioned, with hostels given the responsibility of ensuring those under their roofs fill in the forms, and homeless charities involved in getting basic personal details from those sleeping rough on Sunday night. And hotels must ask their guests to fill in forms. But apartment living, the increased mobility of people and the fact that they have less time than they used to, pose a challenge.
"And they are not inclined to even open the door now, even though the enumerators are wearing high visibility jackets, with enumerator written on the back of them."
And once it's done, comes the task of gathering up the forms and chasing those who don't fill it in. After 2002, the CSO aggressively pursued "a handful" of people who didn't fill in their form. "It took up an inordinate amount of time. I mean, we're not lawyers, but this thing gets sent to the courts and it takes up a lot of time. The only reason we did it was to tell people that we are serious about it; that they have to take it seriously."
Tough questions: two areas of contention
Religion
Question 13: What is your religion? (Tick one box only)
1. Roman Catholic
2. Church of Ireland
3. Presbyterian
4. Methodist
5. Islam
6. Other, write in your religion
7. No religion
Some within the Jewish community are unhappy about the exclusion of Judaism. "We're not cherry picking here," explains the CSO's chief statistician, Aidan Punch. "We literally picked the top five or six faiths and after that there's the write-in box. And I know they'd like a box of their own, but there are 15 other categories ahead of them." While the Christian sects are separated, that Islam isn't divided between Sunni and Shi'ite is due to lack of space. "It's exactly the same question we ran with in 2002 and I didn't have any major complaints." And despite the fragmentation of faith, attendance at religious service is not yet included, although it has potential to skew a figure that has a direct impact on the education system. "I've had academics on to me who are very well up on religion, and they think that question is a dog. They say we should categorise it first by this thing, and then by another. But you don't have the refinement because there's too much competition for space on the form."
Ethnic Background
Question 14: What is your ethnic or cultural background?
Choose one section from A to D then tick the appropriate box.
A. White (1. Irish; 2. Irish Traveller; 3. Any other White background)
B. Black or Black Irish (4. African; 5. Any other Black background
C. Asian or Asian Irish (6. Chinese; 7. Any other Asian background)
D. Other, including mixed background (8. Other, write in description)
Although the CSO discussed the ethnicity question with bodies such as the Equality Authority, Pavee Point and the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism, there has been strong criticism from some quarters about its phrasing. "That's a difficult categorisation," admits Punch. "We had lots of to-ing and fro-ing on that before we came down with that particular question. We ran a field test with it in 8,000 households in 2004 and we'd have had mixed feelings, because on the one hand you want to be inclusive but on the other hand you want to be practical. But the feedback was very positive. It may give rise to sensitivities, but anybody who feels that one of the boxes doesn't adequately describe them, they are open to writing whatever they want down at the end, then we'll code them accordingly."