Tom McDonnell (NERI), Ian Power (DoF), Diarmuid Smyth (CB), Annette Hughes (DKM), Kieran McQuinn (ESRI), Niall Conroy (IFAC), Shawn Britton (KBC), Michael Connolly (CSO), Patrick Quill (CSO), Christopher Sibley (CSO), Ruth O’Shaughnessy (CSO), Brian King (CSO).
Seamus Coffey (UCC), Loretta O’Sullivan (BOI)
1. Michael Connolly gave a presentation on the recent report of the Economic Statistics Review Group, summarising the 13 recommendations across five main themes. The multi-year programme to deliver the recommendations will focus on insight into domestic economic activity.
Focus in National Accounts for 2017 will be on the new level indicator of GNI* (GNI adjusted for the retained earnings of re-domiciled firms and depreciation on foreign-owned domestic capital assets); a breakdown of LCU cases vs. other firms in the Sector Accounts publication; and additional detail on intellectual property products, aircraft leasing, and contract manufacturing.
The Department of Finance requested that a presentation of the MNE dominance of the economy illustrating the impact of the top 10 MNEs be made available. CSO agreed to consider this, as it has been available previously.
2. Patrick Quill gave an overview of the modified measure Current Account*, which will be a modified version of the current account of the Balance of Payments which adjusts income flows for the depreciation related to IP assets, and the retained earnings of redomiciled plcs. This measure will be consistent with the adjusted indicator GNI*.
CSO emphasised that GNI* and Current Account* are additional analytical presentations of data, and do not replace current standard indicators.
3. Brian King presented an overview of the planned extension to structural indicators, as well as ongoing work on the National Accounts IT project. Extended sector accounts and additional longer term structural indicators with an MNE / Domestic breakdown were discussed.
4. A query was raised about whether the level of housing renovation activity being carried out in the economy is being accurately captured in the building and construction indicator, with concerns that this element may be significantly understated.
CSO confirmed that while B&C data are captured on survey forms for industry sectors, they are harder to capture on the private side. It was agreed that this will be discussed at the next meeting, to take place following the publication of the National Income and Expenditure later this summer.