The Response Burden Barometer (RBB) for 2014 reduced by 26.4% since it was first measured in 2005, and when measured against the peak year of 2008, the RBB reduced by 38.8%.

The RBB is a measure of the total administrative burden placed on Irish enterprises and agricultural holdings by Central Statistics Office (CSO) surveys when calculated on an actual compliance basis¹.

There was a decrease of 9.6% in the burden between 2013 and 2014. This can be largely attributed to the 2013 Farm Structure Survey which is carried out under Regulation (EC) No 1166/2008 every 2-3 years. When this takes place, the sample size of the June Agriculture Survey increases from approximately 12,000 to 55,000, which was the case in 2013. This survey did not occur in 2014. As some surveys such as this and the Census of Agriculture (every ten years) etc, don't take place every year, care needs to be taken when comparing the RBB of one year to that of the previous one.  There can also be natural fluctuation with enterprises entering and leaving the survey population over the course of the year, and variation in response expected. Improved data and development of methodologies also contribute to variation within the RBB. The cost to business of this burden was €4.2 million in 2014. See Tables 1 & 2.

It is estimated that there were over 366,200 active business enterprises (including agricultural holdings) in Ireland in 2014. In the course of 2014, the CSO issued 295,500 surveys forms, or an average of 0.81 survey forms per enterprise. There were 210,900 forms returned as partially or wholly completed, representing an average of 0.58 forms per enterprise. See Table 2.

If burden is measured on the basis of partially or fully completed survey forms actually returned to the CSO (i.e., if burden is based on actual compliance), then the total number of hours spent by enterprises in 2014 was 208,600, or 34 minutes per enterprise. The administrative cost, measured on 2013 prices², of actual compliance was €7 million, or €19 per enterprise. The administrative burden (i.e., administrative costs less business-as-usual costs) of actual compliance in 2014 was €4.2 million, or €11 per enterprise². See Measurement Methodology & Table 2.

If all survey forms issued by the CSO were partially or wholly completed and returned (i.e.,  if there had been full compliance), then the total number of hours spent on this task by enterprises in Ireland in 2014 would have been 247,700, or an average of 41 minutes per enterprise. The administrative cost of full compliance was €8.6 million, or €24 per enterprise. The administrative burden of full compliance would have been €5.2 million, or €14 per enterprise. See Measurement Methodology & Table 2.

The most burdensome survey in 2014 was the Trade Intrastat Imports survey, which issued 56,300 forms, of which 54,600 were returned partially or wholly completed.

The administrative costs of completing all Intrastat Imports forms in 2014 were €3.1 million. Of the purely CSO surveys, the full compliance administrative costs of the Balance of Payment surveys were €765,700 in 2014, while the actual compliance administrative costs were €705,700.

 ¹ Actual compliance basis: calculated on a time and cost basis of fully or partially completed returns to the CSO. This is the preferred method of the European Statistical System for calculating the Response Burden Barometer level.

² The  hourly administrative cost figure used in the calculations for non-Trade surveys was €45.39(based on 2013 figures). For Trade surveys, the administrative cost figure was based on their 2013 Response Burden Survey. The administrative burden of CSO surveys was 60.32% of the administrative costs figure. The base year in this release is updated to reference year 2013 to better reflect the changed Intrastat burden methodology. Please see Methodology for further details.

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