The National Ability Supports System (NASS) *, managed by the Health Research Board (HRB), has secured the Irish Statistical Code of Practice (ISSCoP) certification. This accreditation affirms the HRB’s commitment to upholding the highest standards in data quality.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) developed this code of practice to enhance the national data ecosystem, based on the European Statistics Code of Practice. A key objective of ISSCoP is safeguarding trust in Irish official statistics. To achieve this, official statistics must demonstrate independence, objectivity, integrity, and confidentiality.

According to Dr Mairéad O’Driscoll, Chief Executive at the HRB:

“Following on from ISSCoP accreditation for the National Psychiatric Inpatient Reporting System (NPIRS) earlier this year, we are incredibly proud to now achieve the ISSCoP accreditation for the NASS. This achievement highlights our continued commitment to provide policymakers, service providers and researchers with high-quality, independent, and trusted data”

The HRB manages four national information systems and NASS is the second to apply for and secure ISSCoP certification, following ISSCoP accreditation for the NPIRS earlier this year. The NASS team is committed to ensuring standards in the collection and compilation of data and outputs. In addition to producing high quality official statistics, they must be clearly seen to be objective and free from political and other outside interference.

It is recommended that Public Sector Bodies producing official statistics should aspire to reaching a stage of compliance which would see their outputs branded with the ISSCoP certification.

There are five key ISSCoP principles:

Professional Independence: The production of official statistics is based on the application of independent, transparent, and objective standards and free from any political or other external interference.

Timeliness and punctuality: Official statistics are released in a timely and punctual manner in accordance with pre-determined and publicly available release calendar.

Accessibility and clarity: Official statistics are presented in a clear and understandable form, released in a suitable and convenient manner, available and accessible on an impartial basis with the appropriate supporting information.

Commitment to Quality: Compilers of official statistics should systematically and regularly review processes to support continual improvement in process and product quality.

Confidentiality: Public authorities that produce official statistics must ensure that statistical outputs do not lead to the direct or indirect identification of an individual or entity.

Commenting on the achievement, Dr Sarah Craig, Head of National Health Information Systems at the HRB said:

“With an increased focus on official statistics in the area of health, it is essential that we can provide robust and trusted evidence to inform decision making and policy. It is also important to build and sustain public trust in the statistics and provide assurance that this is done in an independent and objective way.”

* The National Ability Supports System (NASS) gathers detailed information about Health Service Executive (HSE) disability-funded services that are received, or identified as required by a service provider, as a result of an intellectual disability; developmental delay; physical, sensory, neurological, learning, and speech and/or language disabilities; or autism.

The purpose of NASS is to gather information in order to aid the planning, development, and organisation of HSE disability-funded services. A person is eligible to be registered on NASS if they receive or require (either currently or within the next five years) a HSE disability-funded service as identified by their service provider.