EU life is good for health, wealth and baby boom

Irish people today live six years longer than they did before the State joined the European Union.

Their average weekly income is up 13-fold but they are now paying eight times as much for basic goods and services.

These are among the findings of a new Central Statistics Office (CSO) report on social and economic changes during the first 30 years of Irish EU membership.

The report, published last night in the CSO's Statistical Yearbook for 2004, says one of the most significant changes is an increase in the population of the Republic of almost one million people.

The number of people at work has increased by almost 750,000, with female employment accounting for 42 per cent of the workforce last year compared to 27 per cent in 1973.

The tendency towards smaller family size has resulted in a lower birth rate, although the total number of births has increased annually since the mid-1990s.

Inflation has been highest in the area of housing, with prices up 25-fold in the past 30 years.

In Dublin, the rate of increase has been greatest, with the average price of a new house rising from €9,206 in 1973 to €291,646 last year.

Higher incomes have resulted in a greater proportion of disposable income being spent on services such as meals out, entertainment and foreign holidays.

The share of income spent on alcohol has also increased marginally, from 11.4 per cent in 1975 to 11.9 per cent in 2001.

During the 30 years of EU membership "Ireland has been transformed from an isolated country with an over-dependence on the UK as a main trading partner to become a prosperous member of the European Union," the report states.

The improvements were not "solely" due to membership of the EU. "However, it is evident that membership of the EU has brought many opportunities and challenges to Ireland and has been one of the major contributory factors leading to economic and social progress in Ireland."

Mr Donal Garvey, the CSO's director general, said the State's long-term investment in education was a factor in its economic development.

"But it is also true and probably beyond argument that one of the drivers of our economic improvement in the last 30 years is the effect of foreign direct investment, and undoubtedly an attraction for foreign direct investment, particularly from the United States, is the fact that we are an English-speaking country with access to a large European market."

The report shows population growth has been most dramatic in Leinster, with Kildare registering a doubling of its population to almost 164,000.

There was a significant decline in the number of births in the first 20 years of EU membership but this pattern was reversed in later years.

"As more and more women remain economically active in the labour market the tendency is towards smaller family units," the report states.

It adds that the life expectancy of men was now 75.1 years, and women 80.3 years, both of which were still below the EU average.