Ruairí Quinn
Ceist:3 Mr. Quinn asked the Taoiseach if an inquiry has been held by the Central Statistics Office into recent discrepancies in figures for planning permissions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16772/00]
Ceisteanna – Questions. - Planning Permissions Data.
A recent analysis indicates that the number of dwelling units for which permission has been granted in 1999 and the first quarter of 2000 is considerably understated in the statistics released by the Central Statistics Office.
A review has started into the discrepancy and is still in progress. The planning permissions data published by the CSO are derived from data supplied by the local authorities and An Bord Pleanála and the inquiry will look at all stages of the process of compilation of the data. It is expected that revised figures will be available within the next four weeks or so.
Can the Minister of State confirm that the figure published by the Central Statistics Office for planning applications approved for the four Dublin local authorities and the mid-east region was just over 6,000 planning applications for residential projects when the actual adjusted figure, on investigation by the Department of the Environment and Local Government, was three times that number? If that is a fact, can the Minister explain how this figure was under-estimated by 300%? A long inquiry into that gathering of data should have been concluded by now and an explanation available to the House.
The Deputy is very well informed. The figures he has given the House are broadly accurate. The Central Statistics Office figure was 6,000 for the period while the Department of the Environment and Local Government's figure was approximately 18,000. There appears to be an understatement of approximately 12,000 for the Dublin and mid-east regions. The Deputy is broadly correct in that regard.
I take a very serious view of this. I asked the director of the Central Statistics Office to meet me yesterday afternoon and we had a long discussion with officials. I have asked for a very quick and urgent investigation into this matter and I understand this is taking place. On Friday morning next there will be a meeting between the CSO and the Department of the Environment and Local Government to see precisely how this understatement took place and to make sure it does not happen again.
The CSO has a long standing reputation for accuracy. When the Office inadvertently gives inaccurate information it is corrected very quickly and publicly, as has been done on this occasion. Pending the meeting on Friday, it is too early to allocate blame. One view is that An Bord Pleanála and/or the local authorities, over a long period, understated the information they supplied to the Central Statistics Office, but no doubt officials in those bodies would dispute that. I hope the meeting on Friday will clarify precisely how the understatement was brought about.
I take a serious view of the matter. One cannot have discrepancies of this order when one is planning the economy.
Does the Minister of State accept, considering residential accommodation and housing is probably the most crucial political issue at the moment, that statistics of this type are crucial if accurate and proper planning of housing needs is to be undertaken by Government and agencies which have responsibility in this regard? Does he accept that it is scandalous if information is so completely inaccurate?
In the light of his acceptance that the figures are inaccurate to the magnitude I have described, has any recheck been done of figures for other regions? Can the Minister of State assure the House that the statistics published for the other regions and in the past are accurate?
It seems that the discrepancy may have occurred systematically over a long period. If that is the case I take an even more serious view of it. That is one of the matters to be discussed at the meeting on Friday next.
While these figures are an important measure of construction activity and so on, they are not the only measure.
The Department of the Environment and Local Government publishes housing statistics. ESB connections are published regularly. It is not as if these figures are relied on for major macroeconomic planning. They are used but not relied on completely in the sense that there are other measures. What appears to have happened over a period, which is cause for concern, is that the various checks and balances in the system between the Central Statistics Office and the Department of the Environment and Local Government have broken down, perhaps over quite a long time, I am sorry to say.
Is the Minister of State telling the House he relies more on the ESB than on his Department and the Central Statistics Office to provide the housing statistics? Can he answer the question on the veracity of the published figures for other regions? Can he stand over the published figures or does the information he has supplied to the House undermine the veracity of the figures for the rest of the country as well?
I have no indication at this stage that there is any difficulty with the other regions but I have asked, and will again ask, the director of the CSO to double check that, given the information which has been brought to light. In view of the Deputy's question, I will ask for that to be done. I have no reason to believe at this stage that there is any difficulty with them. I am not relying on ESB connections. This is not the only measure of housing activity on which the State relies.
It is important to get it right.
Unless I am misreading the information, it appears to go back many years which would mean this discrepancy—
That is all the more worrying.
—is all the more worrying. We, therefore, take it seriously. However, it is a matter we can correct. The people involved have been very upfront about it. When the error came to light, it was admitted and we will make sure it does not recur. It is a cause of concern. The direc tor is meeting me on Friday and I hope we can progress it from there.