Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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128. To ask the Minister for Finance the extent to which the average industrial wage and GDP per capita here compares with other EU, eurozone and non-eurozone states; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34284/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The appropriate comparator for examining relative wage trends on a cross-country basis is real compensation per employee. This equates to nominal wages adjusted for price levels using the GDP deflator. On the basis of this, data from the European Commission's AMECO database confirms that Ireland continues to rank above both the euro area and the wider EU average. In 2015, real compensation per employee was 10 per cent higher than the euro area average, and some 22 per cent higher than the wider EU average.

Ireland also continues to rank considerably above EU and euro area averages in terms of real GDP per capita. However, given distortions in Irish GDP data, GDP per capitais not considered to be a reliable measure by which to assess living standards. Whilst gross national product (GNP) or gross national income (GNI) are more appropriate for this purpose, relative comparisons cannot be made on a GNP basis as this measure is not readily available for other Member States. Whilst Irish GNI is lower than GDP, in the majority of other member states, GNI is broadly equivalent to GDP. Since Irish figures for 2015 are heavily distorted by upward revisions to our national accounts, instead output per capita figures reported below are for 2014. On the basis of real GNI per capita, again adjusting for differences in price levels across countries by using the GDP deflator, measured Irish living standards in 2014 were 17 per cent higher than the euro area, and 28 per cent higher than the EU.