19-05-2025
1926 census to be available online after digitisation
The first census carried out by the State will be available online next year, the Minister for Arts, Culture and Communications Patrick O'Donovan is expected to tell the Cabinet.
The 1926 Census website will go live on 18 April 2026, making available information on almost three million people living in Ireland on that night 100 years ago.
The 1926 Census was the first census of the Irish Free State, also known in Irish as Saorstát Éireann, and marks a significant moment in the development of modern Ireland.
Census 1926 consists of 2,496 bound volumes containing 700,000 household returns and about 70,000 enumerators' sheets giving details of houses and buildings in each townland.
More than €5 million has been made available by the Government to enable release of the 1926 Census next year.
This census captured details on employers and provides an insight into the nature of work in Ireland in 1926 from a social and cultural perspective.
Minister O'Donovan will also update the Government on work to bring RTÉ under the remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General.
'DEIS Plus Scheme'
Education Minister Helen McEntee will outline plans to address educational disadvantage, including the publishing of a new DEIS Plan, and work on a 'DEIS Plus Scheme'.
Minister McEntee will publish a new DEIS Plan this year to address educational disadvantage across all schools.
The new DEIS Plan will focus on improving the opportunities for children at risk of educational disadvantage in all schools.
The plan will address retention to Leaving Certificate and improving progression rates into further and higher education and employment.
It will place a major focus on school attendance and tackling the rate of absenteeism in both DEIS and non-DEIS schools.
Minister for Education Helen McEntee will also update Cabinet on her work to establish a new 'DEIS Plus' scheme which will support schools with the highest level of educational disadvantage, helping them to improve educational outcomes, particularly regarding literacy and numeracy.
Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke will bring a memo to Cabinet on his department's new small business unit.
The purpose of the unit is to ensure that the needs and issues of small businesses have a dedicated focus and are acknowledged across Government.
While Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary will provide an update on the procurement of investment management providers for the automatic enrolment retirement savings system .
The successful bidders will informed later today.
The new system, which will automatically include employees in a pension savings scheme for at least six months, is set be launched at the beginning of next year.
