The growing number of people living in gated communities and apartment complexes has contributed to difficulties in delivering census forms to households ahead of last night's population count. Carl O'Brien, Social Affairs Correspondent, reports.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) said yesterday it has been receiving around 1,500 calls a day from householders who said they had not received a form in the lead-up to the census.
However, officials were keen to stress that the vast majority of households had received forms and the number undelivered was likely to be a tiny fraction of the overall 1.5 million forms.
"People are living more complicated lifestyles, people are more busy and it's increasingly difficult getting face-to-face contact," a CSO spokesman said. "Despite that, we're very happy with the job done and we don't get to hear of the 99 per cent of cases where things are going smoothly."
The process of collecting census forms begins today. The 4,500 census enumerators - who are allocated an average of around 350 households each - have around three weeks to collect the forms.
They will begin with larger institutions, such as hotels and hospitals, before moving on to typical households. If a household did not receive a form by last night, there is still scope for it to be filled in the coming days.
"We'd like everyone to have had a form by last night, but if they don't there is no need to panic. The enumerator will be around shortly and, at the very worst, a household can fill out the form during the week," the CSO spokesman said.
The CSO had been receiving around 1,500 calls a day in recent times regarding census forms on a special telephone number (1890 236 787, available from Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm). Additional forms are being distributed to households through local enumerators.
The spokesman said enumerators sought to make face-to-face contact with people at the door, which made the process of distribution long and sometimes difficult.
"We could just drop them off, but then you're missing that personal contact. These points of contact are important because it allows enumerators to know if additional forms are needed and what's the best time to collect them," the spokesman said.
Everyone in the State must be included in the form, including people staying with friends or relatives, in institutions, hospitals, hotels or on board vessels. Householders are obliged by law to fill out the form. Failure to do so can carry fines of up to €25,000.
During the last census, the CSO brought two people to court, resulting in one person being fined €100, while a conscientious objector refused to pay a fine and spent two weeks in prison.
Preliminary estimates from the census results are expected by July of this year, while detailed results will be available in the following months.
Under legislation, census information is strictly confidential and is used for statistical purposes only. No other Government department or agency has access to information identifying individuals or households.