Travellers are the only group who will be directly asked to state their ethnic status in next year's census. This follows a Government decision not to include a race/colour/ethnicity question on the form. However, questions about nationality will be included in the census, which takes place in April 2001.
Organisations involved have expressed disappointment at the decision. Pavee Point, which represents Travellers, said Travellers might feel singled out and be reluctant to answer the question.
A Government spokeswoman said a race/ethnicity question included in a pilot questionnaire by the Central Statistics Office was criticised by all the groups involved in the discussions. Another question was agreed but it was too late for the pilot survey.
The Government therefore decided it would be "premature" to include the question. Instead, people would be asked about their country of birth and how long they had been living in Ireland.
The original question, included in the pilot survey in September 1999, asked "To which ethnic group do you belong?" and included four categories - Irish, Irish Traveller, British or Other, which was to be specified.
The organisations involved in the talks - the Equality Authority, the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Inter culturalism and Pavee Point - were unhappy with the question. Another question similar to one in the Northern Ireland census was put forward, and included other categories such as "black Irish, Chinese, Vietnamese and Other".
The questions being asked in next year's census include: "Are you a member of the Traveller community? What is your place of birth? Where do you usually live? Where did you usually live one year ago? Were you born abroad or have you lived outside the Republic for a continuous period of one year or more?".
Mr Gearoid O Riain, of Pavee Point, praised the CSO's flexibility and "progressive attitude", but said Travellers were now being singled out. He said Travellers had sought the inclusion of a race/ethnicity question after the last census in 1996. Then it was left to the enumerator to decide whether someone was a Traveller and he/she decided this on whether someone lived in a house or a caravan. As a result, the Traveller population was listed at about 10,000 when the real figure was between 22,000 and 25,000.
"Probably there was an initial recoil at the idea of asking an ethnicity question because a big factor would be that it would affect the overall return of census forms," Mr O Riain said. "Some might say that `oh no, this is labelling people' but this discomfort is only in the majority community. People in minority communities, once they know what it is for, don't have a problem."
He pointed to the homeless Irish in Britain being at a "disproportionately high level". The Irish were not identified as an ethnic group in the last British census, and the services were not planned to provide for them.
Ms Catherine Finneran, senior statistician at the CSO, said it was a Government decision not to include a question on ethnicity. A question on nationality was being put instead. "The ethnicity question is a problem with most countries." However, she believed the questions being asked would return useful data. The Travelling community wanted a question about Travellers.
Mr Seamus Carroll of the Equality Authority expressed disappointment that the opportunity to include ethnicity in the census was not taken, but was very pleased at the inclusion of two detailed questions on disability.
