Questions on mental health and sexual orientation included in online CSO pilot census

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) is launching a pilot survey where the public will have the option to complete their census form online.
The pilot survey is taking place in 44 locations across six counties throughout September.
The 20,000 households in Cork, Dublin, Kilkenny, Louth, Mayo, and Offaly were selected as they “broadly represent the people living in Ireland and are a mix of urban and rural locations”.
New questions on mental health, gender, and sexual orientation are being tested and households selected to take part can complete the form anytime between now and survey night of September 22nd.
The questions include where a household’s car is parked overnight to gather insights on potential placement of electric chargers, whether individuals’ gender is the same or different from the sex recorded at birth, sexual orientation and how a person would self-report their mental health.
The new questions are the result of a public consultation on the potential content of the Census 2027 form.
The CSO said it was conducting this pilot to “test new questions and to see how well this online option works”.
“We are asking every household selected for this survey to take part so we can evaluate our online option. The online form can be completed on a variety of devices such as mobile phones, tablets or laptops. People can also complete a paper form and both the online and paper forms are available in Irish and English,” a statement from the CSO said.
Letters of invitation have been posted to homes in the selected pilot areas, which explain how to complete the form online.
Maps of the areas selected to take part are available to view on censuspilot.ie.