Householders ignoring CSO staff delivering Census forms

SOME householders are ignoring the calls of Census staff calling to drop off forms for the big night next weekend.

Central Statistics Office (CSO) said it is frustrating for some of its 4,400 census enumerators that people are refusing to open the door to them, even though there are clearly people at home when they call.

Aidan Punch, CSO senior statistician, said the problem is not widespread, but it is a bigger worry than in previous years. “We have well over two-thirds of the 1.7 million forms delivered to homes around the country at this stage,” he said.

“But there are some staff having setbacks because they are being ignored at a small number of houses or apartments a few times and nobody is answering.”

He stressed that householders only have to meet the enumerator for less than a minute, as they point out the attached leaflet and ask how many people normally live there, as an extra form would be needed for additional residents.

Although several hundred enumerators dropped out a few days into the Census campaign earlier this month, Mr Punch said that they had thousands of replacements ready and trained to take their places.

“It is quite a tough job and some people discovered after a few days that it was harder than they thought it would be, but we had approached 5,500 people for the 4,400 jobs so there were plenty substitutes ready to go,” he said.

Despite the fact that Census night, Sunday, April 23, is one of the biggest days on the sporting calendar so far this year, organisers don’t expect that the results will be distorted too much by people travelling to support their favourite teams. Munster and Leinster rugby fans will pack Lansdowne Road in Dublin for the Heineken Cup semi-final, while the GAA’s national football and hurling league finals are also scheduled for the same day.

“Even if there are thousands of people travelling from home for matches, most of them will be home to go to work the next day by Sunday night,” Mr Punch said. “Those who are away from home will be counted wherever they stay the night, but there is a space on the census form to indicate people who would normally be in the home but who are absent on April 23.”