9 Mr. J. Bruton, Mr. Shatter and Mr. R. Burton asked the Taoiseach if he has any proposals to revise the methodology of calculation of national income in Ireland to take account of the fact that some forms of income generation involved depletion or damage of environmental assets in light of the recent World Bank publication Environmental Accounting for Sustainable Development.
The Irish National Accounts are compiled in conformity with the European System of Integrated Economic Accounts which is the EC version of the United National System of National Accounts. These standard international systems are the subject of a major review at present and Irish experts are participating actively in this process. A revised international system is expected to be agreed by early 1993.
One of the issues under consideration is the development of a methodology for accounting for the environment. The World Bank publicationEnvironmental Accounting for Sustainable Development is a collection of workshop papers on the topic and these form an important input to the discussions. However the conceptual and practical problems involved require further examination.
Ireland will, of course, implement any revised international system of national accounting in accordance with EC recommendations.
