National Statistics Board

Section 19 of the Statistics Act 1993 describes the functions of the National Statistics Board in guiding, with the agreement of the Taoiseach, the strategic direction of the CSO in:

establishing priorities for the compilation and development of official statistics
assessing the resources of staff, equipment and finance which should be made available for the compilation of official statistics
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

The Act provides that the Taoiseach appoints 5 persons of proven ability and experience in relevant fields:

2 of whom are nominated by the Taoiseach, and
3 of whom are nominated by such organisation or organisations as the Taoiseach considers to be representative of the users of official statistics and providers of information under the Act

On 15 May 2017, the Taoiseach renewed the membership of the board. The term of the board will run for a 3-year period.

Membership of the board is as follows:

Name	Position
Ms. Anne Vaughan (Chairperson)	Chairperson of the National Statistics Board, Former Deputy Secretary at the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection
Dr Eimear Cotter	Head of Department - Low Carbon Technologies, SEAI
Mr Gerard Brady	Senior Economist, IBEC
Mr John Martin	Adjunct Research Fellow, UCD Geary Institute
Mr Gerard O'Neill	Chairman, Amárach Research
Mr John Shaw*	Assistant Secretary, Department of the Taoiseach
Mr John McCarthy*	Assistant Secretary, Department of Finance
Mr Padraig Dalton*	Director General, CSO

There are currently no vacancies on the Board.

Section 18 of the Statistics Act 1993 provides that 2 members of the board are senior representatives of the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of Finance. The Director General of the CSO is an ex-officio member of the board