Loretta O’Sullivan (BoI), Stephen Byrne (Central Bank), Michael Flanagan (D/Fin), Annette Hughes (EY), Kevin Timoney (IFAC), Austin Hughes (KBC), Tom McDonnell (NERI), Seamus Coffey (UCC)
CSO: Chris Sibley, Gordon Cavanagh, Justin Flannery, Annette Hayes, Oisín Mangan, Ruth O’Shaughnessy.
Kieran McQuinn (ESRI), Simon Barry (Ulster Bank).
Inflation was discussed in some detail, and the deflators used for Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) and the Household Budget Survey (HBS) were clarified. The PCE deflator is based on what households are buying, while the HBS is based on the basket of goods. The PCE deflates value data, but cars and rent data do not come exclusively from the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
The scale of royalty outflows - driven by the computer service-related exports of a small number of enterprises - was reviewed. The reasons that the data may not be visible in the data of the counterparty country were clarified.
Data sources to identify ongoing investment in data centres were discussed. The CSO undertook to review the relevant time series to identify construction and computer equipment investment associated with the construction of data centres.
Proposed layout and format changes to the National Income Expenditure (NIE) release were presented. The CSO wants to standardise using international best practice, but needs to be aware of the costs and benefits to users. MLSG members are heavy users of PxStat rather than releases, so any changes to the PxStat structure would need to be flagged well in advance. The proposed changes to chapter titles and table numbers in the NIE release would not be an issue.
A draft monthly employment indicator from the PMOD data is nearly ready for internal review. Monthly employee data should be available by the end of June, with average earnings to follow. This had been flagged previously by the MLSG as a development priority.
A review of the methodology behind modified Capform, business investment, and the differences in construction data between Tables 5.8 and 2.1 was carried out by Business Statistics and National Accounts. Grossing of small firms was identified as driving the difference between the two, and Business Statistics have revised accordingly. Capform expenditure is now approximately equal to turnover from the sector.
MNE wages have been split in the Annual Sector Accounts, and will be presented in the NIE with a NACE breakdown. This will be annual initially, with a view to presenting quarterly.
The UN’s proposed introduction of NACE 3 in 2029 – which would show software and web portals separately in Information and Communication sectors J58 to J63 – could result in confidentially issues for Ireland and mean that both would have to be suppressed. Ireland will engage with Europe to address this potential issue.