Vol. 493 No. 3
110 Mr. Deasy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she has figures to substantiate the existence of a substantial black economy within the State; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16047/98]
My Department does not collate data nor has it access to data which would substantiate the existence of a substantial black economy within the State.
I am aware of a paper which was presented by Mr. Gabriel Fagan of the Central Bank to the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland in October 1993. Mr. Fagan's paper, Measuring the Size of Ireland's Black Economy, presented the results of applying a range of techniques for estimating the size of the black economy in Ireland. The paper concluded that, while the available evidence indicated the existence of a significant black economy, all of the techniques available for estimating the magnitude of the black economy suffer from significant limitations and, consequently, no definitive conclusions could be drawn.
