Vol. 412 No. 5
4 Mr. Quinn asked the Taoiseach if he has any plans, in conjunction with the Central Statistics Office, the Department of Finance and the Central Bank, to arrange for the publication, on a regular basis, of quarterly data on gross national product in order to improve the economy; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
At present, the Central Statistics Office publish a wide range of monthly and quarterly economic indicators. These provide comprehensive information for significant areas of the economy such as prices, industrial performance, retail sales, unemployment and the nation's external trading position.
In the national accounts area, the immediate priority is to improve the timeliness and quality of the annual accounts and to provide a more extensive range of sectoral information than has hitherto been possible. There are no plans, at present, to compile the national accounts or data on gross national product on a quarterly basis.
Will the Minister of State not agree that having regard to the dispute over the interpretation of the performance of the economy for the first nine months of this year, it would be in everybody's interests, and particularly in the interest of the Taoiseach in trying to negotiate with the social partners, if clear and undisputed data in relation to the performance of GNP and GDP were available to all parties in a manner similar to that in the United States where they get quarterly statements of growth or non-growth as distinct from annual statements here? Would he not agree in the context of the difficulties we have that it would be in the interest of the Government and the CSO to move towards providing for the publication of such statistics?
Publishing such figures on a more regular basis would not necessarily mean greater accuracy. It is to the contrary. Six member states of the Community publish such figures on a quarterly basis and their experience has not been satisfactory. There have been substantial revisions to the initial quarterly estimates when the more reliable annual information has become available at the end of the year. The experience in other countries where they publish accounts on a quarterly basis is certainly not satisfactory.
We now come to deal with Question No. 5 to the Taoiseach and Minister for Finance. The questions we are about to embark upon are questions nominated for priority, for which 15 minutes only are provided for in the Standing Orders of this House.
