Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The final line of the reply outlined that the CSO is continually engaging with national and international stakeholders to look at how we collect data and the best value we can get from data. As to whether we would consider expanding the scope of statistics being collected, the answer is "Yes, we will". When new opportunities are put to us, they are evaluated based on the cost of collecting the data versus the return. One such example is a pilot that is currently being undertaken by the CSO, which was established in the second quarter of this year, namely, the minimum wage quantum survey, the details of which will probably be released later on this year. It might go some way towards establishing the kind of information Deputy Martin seeks - that we all seek - on the basis of the kind of wages that are paid and for what contract hours, to establish whether they are if-and-when contracts, zero-hour contracts or continually 20-hour or 40-hour week contracts.

1 o’clock

While a real effort was made to impart the information to me, much of what is done is based on sampling surveys, as opposed to conducting a detailed analysis of every single worker in the country because obviously that would not be cost-effective. However, the trend obviously is something of which the Government is aware and is tracking. It will be interesting to look at the detailed data that come out of this second quarter pilot survey on the exact quantum of the wages and it will be fed back to the Deputy as soon as possible. There is also a lot of the other stuff the Central Statistics Office, CSO, seeks to track with regard to the living wage and its interaction with the Low Pay Commission. Obviously, it is something on which the office is working but it is open and willing to consider both international best practice and changes it would be necessary to apply here arising therefrom and any suggestions people in this House and beyond might have. However, it must be cost related to the benefit of the data we get back on a statistical level.

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