Maybe I am losing it Minister. Did the Minister of State say how the one sixth of houses that are vacant most of the time were treated?

Yes, I did — 6,000——

Six thousand what?

I said earlier: "When all of the census forms are processed, it will be possible to derive an exact figure for the extent of this category. However, preliminary indications are that the number of persons involved is of the order of 6,000."

The Minister of State is mishearing me. The same figures show that a sixth of the houses in the State are not habitually occupied. How is that treated in the census? That is not 6,000, as the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government with special responsibility for housing would remind us.

It is a straightforward question of how we count the people who are in the country on census night. If, for example, Limerick residents were in Dublin on the night to support Munster, they were counted in guesthouses and hotels in Dublin. People on boats and civilian ships in Dublin's harbours and tourists in Ireland for the night were also counted. However, people who were away from the country were not counted. The latter may be the people to which Deputy Rabbitte referred.

Is the Minister of State saying that, if a census enumerator knocks on a door in An Spidéal but finds nobody at home, the occupants are simply excluded?

That is correct.

I take it the Minister of State is not chancing his arm. Has he established that with the CSO?

As I said earlier, a process has to be followed in which houses are revisited. Enumerators were given mobile telephones and calling cards, so it is not a question of knocking once and not finding anybody there. However, if people are away on holidays, for example, they are not counted.