Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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67. To ask the Taoiseach , further to Parliamentary Question No. 1 of 22 March 2016, the additional cost of producing detailed county estimates of the number of persons at work; the increase in sample size that would be required; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17157/16]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) is the official source of employment estimates in the state and is conducted in line with the European regulation for the conduct of labour force surveys (577/98). The QNHS is based on a national sample of 26,000 households each quarter. This sample of households is designed to be representative of the population at both regional (NUTS 3) and national levels and the sample selection process takes account of the distribution of the population across the country.

The labour market estimates produced by the QNHS are designed to meet strict quality criteria set down by Eurostat, which specify the level of statistical accuracy that these estimates must achieve at national level. The CSO also produces regional labour market estimates from the QNHS (NUTS 3 level) although this level of detail is not required by Eurostat.

In order to produce labour market estimates at county level (NUTS 4) that would meet the same statistical standards as currently achieved for national and regional labour market statistics, it is estimated that the QNHS sample size would need to be increased by a factor of four in some counties. Potentially this could mean an increase in the QNHS sample size nationally from 26,000 households to 104,000 households.

In order to interview a sample of this size the CSO would need to increase the number of permanent field staff posts from 100 to 400 and increase the number of temporary or backup posts from 40 to 160. The current cost of the QNHS fieldwork is approximately €4m per annum, which includes fieldstaff pay, travel costs and computer hardware costs. It is estimated that with a potential increase in the sample outlined above the cost of the QNHS could similarly increase the fieldwork costs to €16m per annum.

The actual level of increase required in the household sample size in each county would require a more detailed statistical examination.