asked the Taoiseach in respect of the National Accounts tables 1974-1986 published by the OECD this year, the reason very sparse data appears in respect of Ireland in regard to each of the following headings: (a) gross domestic product institutional sectors of origin (b) final consumption expenditure of private non-profit institutions (c) gross domestic product by kind of activity at 1980 prices (d) a breakdown of capital consumption as a cost component of value added (e) a breakdown of indirect taxes as a cost component of value added and (f) a breakdown of subsidies by Government as a cost component of value added; if the data in question was requested from the Irish authorities by the OECD; if so, when; if a response was made giving all the data requested; if all the data requested was not supplied; the reason; and if this matter has been discussed by the council which is advising the Central Statistics Office on statistical policy.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - OECD National Accounts.
The national accounts publication referred to by the Deputy is the latest in an annual series. The published data are based on information submitted in response to a regular detailed questionnaire dispatched to member states of OECD countries in July-August each year. Replies with available data are generally supplied to OECD in November-December each year by the Central Statistics Office. The material requested is very comprehensive and is sought in the format of the UN System of National Accounts. While the Irish national accounts conform with the concepts and definitions therein the precise detail is not available for some of the analyses. Virtually no country supplied all the material desired by OECD. With regard to the specific items referred to in the question the following is the situation: Item (a), gross domestic product is not available by reference to institutional sectors in the Irish accounts. Relatively few countries do this analysis at present. Resources permitting, it is however an area of developmental interest; Item (b), private non-profit institutions are generally consolidated with households in the accounts of most countries and are not separately identified; Items (c), (d), (e) and (f), the sectoral breakdown requested here is greater than is at present available in the Irish national accounts. Priority is being given to development of a detailed sectoral analysis of value added and its components. In fact for items (e) and (f), additional information has recently been dispatched to OECD. The National Statistics Board have in their recent report recognised the need to accord a high priority to the further development of the national accounts.
I should like to thank the Minister for his reply. Would he indicate if there will be a substantial difference in the amount of information that will be available from Ireland when this publication is published next year and, in particular, can he indicate the gaps which are now empty and which may be filled in next year's annual accounts? Would he agree that it is particularly useful to have information of this kind for a variety of countries so that one can assess how Ireland is doing on a league table? Would he agree also having large gaps in respect of Ireland in a publication like this is bad from every point of view and, therefore, would he give priority to trying to ensure that we are able to give all possible information for inclusion in next year's national accounts tables?
Considerable additional work is required each year to supply national accounts material to OECD following the publication of the accounts domestically. The material is requested purely on a voluntary basis and indeed is so detailed that no country conforms fully with the request. Very heavy additional resources would be required if we were to achieve the objective of supplying all of the information they request from year to year. I might add that the information we give to OECD is very detailed. I am sure the Deputy has on file the 13 pages of statistical information supplied to OECD for this year alone. Our main priority is to ensure that the information we are collecting on a statistical basis gives the greatest possible benefit and value to us. If the OECD require additional information which is not readily available, it is difficult for us to confirm. I would add again that it is requested purely on a voluntary basis.
I accept what the Minister has said but would he not agree that information that is available here that can be compared with information from other countries is much more useful to us domestically than information for this country alone which cannot be compared with equivalent information from other countries and that, therefore, supplying information to an international publication such as this is of great use to us as much as it is to the international community? In the light of that, will the Minister indicate how much additional resources he is talking about when he says that extra resources will be needed to comply with all these requirements?
I agree that the more information that is available the more beneficial it is to all countries in the OECD context. No country supplies all the information required. We supply as much, if not more, information than most other countries.
That is not true. We are one of the worst.
It is true.
Not from my reading of the table.
What would be required if we were to achieve the full objective of supplying all the information is a separate question and if Deputy Bruton wishes I will make further inquiries and come back to him personally on it.
Thank you.