Census 2016 takes place on Sunday 24 April and allows us to make our mark. The census takes place every five years and is conducted by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The census is an account of everybody in the country on census night.

On the night of 24 April, everyone in the country must be included on a census form and be part of the official count.

Under Sections 26 and 27 of the Statistics Act 1993, there is a legal obligation to complete the census form.

Topics

Everyone who is on the premises on census night, including visitors, should be counted. You should also enter the details (on List 2) of anyone who usually lives there, but is away on census night. The questionnaire includes topics such as age, marital status, sex, place of birth, occupation and industry, and housing characteristics. There is a step-by-step guide to completing the form on www.census.ie.

All the information that you give on the census form is confidential. The CSO only uses it for statistical purposes.

Your name and address are not entered on any computer database, and no other organisation (including government departments or agencies) can access information from the census that would identify a household or a person in any way.

The results provide invaluable information on not only population size for the country as a whole, but also about the make-up of the population of towns, villages, and other small areas across the country.

As well as collecting information on the age and sex of the population, a range of different questions relating to households and individuals are also asked, such as where and what people work at, how people travel to work, school and college, languages spoken, disabilities, families, housing and more. The census also helps to provide an accurate measure of net migration (the difference between inward and outward migration).

Queries

Census enumerators call to all households to deliver forms by census night and they call back to collect completed forms over the following couple of weeks. Enumerators carry ID, which you can ask to see if you wish. They can also help with any queries you have about the census form.

When you have completed the form on census night, sign the declaration at the end of the form and keep it safe until your enumerator calls back to collect it. If nobody at all is present on census night, you should have Form E instead of the census form.

It is vital that we all complete our census form on 24 April as it is an extremely valuable tool in planning for the services for rural areas on which we all rely.