Vol. 416 No. 7
1 Mr. Finucane asked the Taoiseach if he will give details of the average industrial wage; if he will outline the formula used in the computation of this average industrial wage; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The average weekly earnings of industrial workers in manufacturing industries, commonly referred to as the "average industrial wage", were £229.32 in June 1991 and were provisionally estimated to have been £232.76 in September 1991, the latest date for which information is available.
These estimates are derived from the quarterly industrial inquiry conducted in respect of March, June, September and December each year. The survey is based on a representative sample of establishments with ten or more persons engaged in each industrial sector. The estimates for June 1991 are compiled from details provided by approximately 1,300 respondents who account for approximately 70 per cent of total industrial employment.
The earnings estimates provided for industrial workers cover operatives, maintenance workers, storekeepers, packers, cleaners, basic supervisory staff and apprentices. It excludes clerical and managerial workers.
The details collected in respect of earnings relate to the gross amount paid to employees before deduction of income tax, PRSI, etc., include overtime, service pay, shift and other allowances, commissions, production and regular bonuses. Irregular bonuses, back-pay and redundancy pay are excluded.
Each respondent establishment provides details of total employment, earnings and hours worked for the period in question. For different categories of staff these returns are separately aggregated within three establishment size categories in each of 109 industrial sectors. The overall estimates are then compiled by weighting the averages for all sample establishments in each of the cells. The weighting used is the estimated total employment of relevant staff in each cell.
I thank the Minister for his comprehensive reply. I appreciate the statistical information. Does the Minister consider that producing information of that kind in relation to the national barometer is deceptive? I have surveyed five companies in my area who have 5,000 employees. The average weekly wage is £154 and these are unionised companies. I wonder whether the publication of that type of information in the newspapers is deceptive and whether it creates expectations.
There is no intention to deceive and I do not think the Deputy is alleging that. It could possibly be misleading, but the best efforts are made. I have gone into detail as to how it is done. It covers 109 sectors and is the best method devised so far. It is also relatively accurate. I know the difficulty to which the Deputy is referring but this is the best system we have at present.
I seek the cooperation of the House in disposing of the five priority questions within the 15 minutes laid down by Standing Orders.
