Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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144. To ask the Minister for Finance if he has studied the World Bank report on global remittances; the level of discrepancies here with regard to per capita remittances; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25092/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I assume that the Deputy is referring to recent newspaper reports regarding World Bank figures for Global Remittances in 2011. The World Bank Migration and Remittances Factbook for 2011 shows total remittance flows into Ireland of USD 755m and remittance outflows of USD 2, 843 m. The newspaper reports focussed in particular on the figure for remittances from Nigerians living in Ireland to Nigeria – USD 601m. This figure seemed disproportionately high in view of the reported size of the Nigerian population in Ireland and in view of the level of remittances from other nationalities to their home countries. I understand from the World Bank that the remittance figures relating to Nigeria are estimates provided to the World Bank by the Nigerian authorities and not actual data. These estimates are based on total remittance inflows reported by Nigeria allocated according to its estimated stock of emigrants and further adjusted by the World Bank in the light of differing national per capita income levels. The World Bank believes that some elements of the estimation process may not be reliable.

Neither the Central Statistics Office nor the Central Bank of Ireland publish statistics relating to remittance flows to individual countries. However, available information would indicate that the figures published in the World Bank Migration and Remittances Factbook in respect of remittance flows between Ireland and Nigeria are open to serious scrutiny and that the real figure may be a fraction of the published figure.