Austin Deasy
Ceist:27 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Finance the reason that earnings in the south east region are 12% below the national average; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14505/01]
Vol. 536 No. 4
27 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Finance the reason that earnings in the south east region are 12% below the national average; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14505/01]
This question refers to a report, Household Incomes, Regions and Counties 1991-1998, published by the CSO earlier this month. In the report household income includes wages and salaries, income from self employment, and transfer payments from the State – these include the imputed value of some non-cash benefits, which accrue to households such as secondary and university education, free drugs and free fuel and transport for the elderly.
It also includes, in conformity with the definition of income in the national accounts, the imputed value of own farm consumption and income in kind, as well as the imputed rent of owner occupied dwellings, that is, the estimated rent that the occupier, as a tenant, would pay to him or herself as a landlord. Household income on this national accounting basis is therefore not the same as the cash income that accrues to private households.