Vol. 491 No. 1
54 Mr. Perry asked the Taoiseach if, in relation to the evaluation of unpaid work, the CSO can evaluate the full extent of the contribution of unpaid work; the effectiveness of the quarterly national household survey in this regard; if the Government will act on its findings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11521/98]
Unpaid work is not covered in the Irish national accounts which are compiled in accordance with recognised international standards. These standards do not include the evaluation of unpaid work as part of the core accounts. However, they do allow for unwaged work to be included in satellite accounts. These are used to extend the core system to provide information on topics where the estimation methods are not sufficiently developed to allow their inclusion in the main system.
The quarterly national household survey is not an appropriate vehicle for the collection of information on this type of work because of its concentration on participation in the labour force which is defined in terms of paid or gainful employment. Time use surveys are considered to be the most appropriate means of developing the required information i.e. the time people spend on different types of unpaid work. The Central Statistics Office, CSO, carried out a small scale pilot survey of some 300 households in 1997 in order to consider the feasibility and cost of conducting a large scale national survey. It is clear from this pilot survey and experience in other countries that a full survey would be extremely costly.
In its Statement of Strategy 1998-2000, the CSO has indicated that it will seek Government approval and the necessary resources to conduct a time use survey in 2000. The Government will consider such a request in the light of forthcoming recommendations from the National Statistics Board on statistical priorities.
