To ask the Minister of Finance whether he will remove, from the 2021 census, the question asking those who have responded that they do not belong to any religion, what religious community background they may be perceived as from.

The last two Censuses (2001 & 2011) included two religion questions. The first question asked everyone the “religion they belonged to” and the second question asked those who had no current religion the “religion they were brought up in”.

The statistics produced from these questions are used by public and private sector bodies to meet their statutory obligations under section 75 of the NI Act (1998) and the Fair Employment and Treatment (NI) Order 1998.

A public consultation on the 2021 Census revealed continuing strong support for the two religion questions. This included support from the Equality Commission. The questions were tested in the recent census rehearsal and continue to perform well. Therefore, I am in favour of retaining the two religion questions from the 2001 and 2011 Censuses in the 2021 Census. The legislation required to take forward the 2021 Census will now be considered by the Executive Committee.