Ireland has been a subscriber to the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) since July 26 1996, and the SDDS website discloses that Ireland meets all requirements for coverage, timeliness, and periodicity, although it does avail itself of the flexibility option for timeliness in reporting national accounts and central government debt data. Ireland provides summary methodologies and posts advance-release dates for all datasets reported to the IMF. The IMF's 2007 Article IV Consultations report deems Ireland's data provision to be adequate for surveillance purposes.

General Overview

Ireland is a subscriber to the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as evidenced on the SDDS website. Coverage, timeliness, and periodicity of data dissemination are all up to SDDS requirements, although Ireland does avail itself of the timeliness flexibility option for national accounts and government debt data. The Staff Report section of the 2007 IMF Article IV Consultation report states that "data provision is overall adequate for surveillance purposes" (p. 4). As a member of the European Union (EU), Ireland must comply with the standards set by both Eurostat and the European Central Bank (ECB). The report also notes that there is sometimes a significant (3 to 6 month) time lag in the publication of real sector data, and some data series not required by the SDDS, such as data on household disposable income, can suffer from lags as long as 1.5 years. Ireland does not issue a comprehensive sectoral balance sheet or an overall earnings index. In addition, according to the 2007 report, balance figures for the general government are only reported annually. For balance-of-payment data, Ireland follows the Balance of Payments Manual (BPM), 5th edition. Historical data begins with the year 1998, when a series of methodological changes were introduced. While the report notes that "exports and imports data from the national accounts and the balance of payments differ due to different treatments of financial services in the European System of Accounts 1995 and BPM5" (p. 4), the differences are susceptible to reconciliation.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) was created in 1949 to serve as the national statistics authority, according to the CSO website. In its 2007 "Customer Service Action Plan" publication, the CSO disclosed that it's mandate to collect, compile, extract, and disseminate economic, social, and other data relating to the government and the nation. To achieve this goal, according to the report, the CSO fully complies with the United Nation's (UN) Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics and the EU's 2005 European Statistics Code of Practice. The CSO is the coordinating agency for statistical data generated by all other public entities. It is relied upon by the government, the business sector, international agencies, the EU, and the general public for timely, impartial, reliable, high-quality statistical data. Under the provisions of the Statistics Act of 1993, the National Statistics Board (NSB) was brought into being and given the mandate to provide the CSO with strategic direction and advice. The NSB works with a long-term focus, generating five-year statistics strategies. The NSB also provides oversight on the implementation of these strategies on an ongoing basis.

In 2007, Cubitt et al. conducted a peer review of the CSO's compliance with the European Statistics Code of Practice, wherein it was reported that all standards covered by the review are at least partially met, many are fully or largely met, and the quality of staff and product was judged to be very good. However, the report noted that operational quality assurance procedures remained a work in progress. All requirements dealing with CSO independence and its data collection mandate were judged to be "fully met," as was one element of the Adequacy of Resources principle. A concern was raised that, although resources are adequate for present needs, they may not be enough to address future requirements, however. The Commitment to Quality principles were deemed overall to be "largely met," with the recognition that the quality control system is relatively new and that improvements are ongoing. Statistical Confidentiality principles were judged to be "fully met," as were the principles of Impartiality and Objectivity. Regarding the principles of Accessibility and Clarity, the CSO was deemed, in the main, to fully comply, but in the area of standardization of metadata documentation, room for improvement was noted.

The Principles

Comprehensive economic and financial data, disseminated on a timely basis.

FC

The IMF's SDDS website discloses that Ireland's data dissemination meets all requirements for coverage, timeliness, and periodicity, but notes that Ireland avails itself of the timeliness flexibility option in national and central government debt data. The 2007 IMF Article IV Consultation report judged Ireland's data dissemination regime to be adequate for surveillance. As a member of the EU, Ireland must comply with the standards set by both Eurostat and the ECB. The report notes that there is sometimes a significant (3 to 6 month) time lag in the publication of real sector data, and some data series not required by the SDDS, such as data on household disposable income, can suffer from lags as long as 1.5 years. Ireland does not issue a comprehensive sectoral balance sheet or an overall earnings index. In addition, according to the 2007 report, balance figures for the general government are only reported annually.

Ready and equal access to official statistics.

FC

Ireland meets the IMF's SDDS requirements for this principle, according to the IMF SDDS website. The CSO website discloses that a wide range of reports and other publications offer public access to official statistics. Advance release calendars are available on the CSO website for all pertinent datasets required by the IMF's SDDS. Provisional release dates are issued monthly, and actual data release dates are announced one week in advance. For the financial sector, precise release dates are provided on the SDDS website one quarter in advance. External sector data release dates are posted on a provisional basis a quarter ahead, on the CSO website, except for International Reserves, which is posted on the SDDS website. Simultaneous release of data to all interested parties is the rule, although the SDDS website notes that, in some data categories, limited early access is available to government officials prior to public release. For the real sector, data is generally released at 11:00 am through a press release issued by the Government Information Service (GIS) and simultaneously posted on the CSO website. Fiscal sector data, according to the SDDS website, is released to all interested parties simultaneously on the Department of Finance's website. Interest rate data is made available through an automated telephone service. External sector data is subject to simultaneous release to all interested parties on the CSO, Central Bank and Financial Services Authority websites. According to the 2007 Article IV Consultations report and the SDDS website, Ireland's data uniformly meets or exceeds its specifications for public access, data integrity, and data quality.

Official statistics must have the confidence of their users. Transparency of its practices and procedures is a key factor.

FC

According to the IMF SDDS website, Ireland provides appropriate information to the public as to the terms and conditions under which data is collected, compiled, and disseminated. Confidentiality is ensured under the provisions of the Central Bank Act and the Statistics Act, as well as EU legal requirements. However, there is no information on the IMF's SDDS website as to the confidentiality on the information used in central government debt and share price index data. There is little or no internal early government access to data, and when it does occur, that fact is made public on the SDDS website. Ministerial commentary is not attached to data. When or if there is such commentary (e.g., with regard to external sector data), it is released separately. According to the SDDS website, methodological information (including summary methodologies on the website) is available for all relevant datasets.

Both the 2007 Article IV Consultations report and the SDDS website disclose that Ireland's data uniformly meets or exceeds its specifications for public access, data integrity, and data quality. While the 2007 report notes that "exports and imports data from the national accounts and the balance of payments differ due to different treatments of financial services in the European System of Accounts 1995 and BPM5" (Staff Report, p. 4), the differences are susceptible to reconciliation.

A set of standards that deals with the coverage, periodicity and timeliness of data must also address the quality of statistics.

FC

The IMF's SDDS website records that Ireland provides summary methodologies for all the required datasets. Component detail, data reconciliation, and statistical frameworks that allow cross-checks of data are available in all relevant categories. Both the 2007 Article IV Consultations report and the SDDS website disclose that Ireland's data uniformly meets or exceeds its specifications for public access, data integrity, and data quality. While the 2007 report notes that "exports and imports data from the national accounts and the balance of payments differ due to different treatments of financial services in the European System of Accounts 1995 and BPM5" (Staff Report, p. 4), the differences are susceptible to reconciliation.

The CSO's 2007 "Customer Service Plan" notes that the CSO fully complies with the UN's Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics and the EU's 2005 European Statistics Code of Practice. The publication describes the CSO's Customer Service Action Plan, which specifically references the rights of CSO consumers, and includes a provision for the constant monitoring of CSO performance of its mandate.