Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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285. To ask the Minister for Finance the action he has taken to address the recent Central Statistics Office figures for the economy; his views on whether this is a serious reputational issue for the State; the advice and reports he has commissioned; if he will publish such reports as soon as available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25519/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Central Statistics Office (CSO) published the National Income and Expenditure results for 2015 in July which show that the economy grew by 26.3 per cent.

The unprecedented figure is largely related to the activities of multinationals across a small number of sectors including the tech, pharmaceutical and aircraft leasing sectors.  In particular, corporate restructuring and a number of balance sheet reclassifications had a substantial impact.

Given the exceptionality of the data, statisticians from Eurostat visited the CSO at end-August.  I am informed that the meeting was a positive one, in which Eurostat officials were satisfied regarding the plausibility of the CSO's estimates.

The factors driving the exceptional growth last year have little, if any, impact on actual output and income developments in Ireland and greatly exaggerate the size of our economy.  However, it is also important to stress that more concrete indicators such as consumer spending, taxation trends, employment growth - of the underlying levels of economic activity point to a continuation of a now firmly-rooted recovery. These indicators are closely monitored by investors, analysts, credit rating agencies and others and it is the ongoing recovery that is the most important factor behind the restoration of Ireland's international reputation.

It is also important to note that while the figures are heavily distorted by a relatively small number of very large multinationals, they are compiled in accordance with best international practice and statistical standards.  They measure what they are supposed to measure this is an important message that should be communicated internationally.  But what is also clear is that in a small, open and very globalised economy such as Ireland, it is clear that the relevance of these figures as a metric by which underlying economic trends and changes in living standards can be assessed is considerably less than elsewhere.

With this in mind, the Central Statistics Office has put together a group of experts to provide guidance on how more relevant indicators could be produced and published alongside these figures in the future. My Department will be represented on this group. It is expected that this group will publish a report detailing their findings later this year.