CSO report: We are a nation of contradictions, according to the latest report from the Central Statistics Office. Our 4.2 per cent unemployment rate was the lowest in the EU last year, yet we had one of the highest rates of people at risk of poverty after pensions and social transfer payments were taken into account.
Some 21 per cent were deemed to be at risk of poverty in 2004, compared with an EU average of 16 per cent.
Our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rate was the second highest per capita in 2004, yet we spent considerably less on research and development than the EU average.
Primary school class sizes were among the highest in Europe in 2003, yet our our literacy levels were among the best in Europe. Health spending rose by over 80 per cent between 1995 and 2004, yet our expenditure on public and private health as a percentage of GDP was still lower than the EU average in 2002.
The figures are part of Measuring Ireland's Progress 2005, which was released by the CSO yesterday. The 101-page report measures progress made in economic, social and environmental areas and compares them with EU statistics.
It found that voter turnout in Dáil elections fell from more than 75 per cent in the 1970s to 63 per cent in 2002. This was in line with EU trends where all EU countries except Malta showed a fall in voter turnout over a 20-year period. Ireland's voter participation, at 62.6 per cent, is in the bottom half of the EU league. It compares with 95.4 per cent in Malta, 91.8 per cent in Cyprus and 69.6 per cent overall in the EU.
The CSO report found that our fertility rate was the highest in the EU and our proportional increase in population was the second highest last year. Yet average household size fell from 3.13 persons in 1996 to 2.84 in 2005. Some 26,200 people moved here from the 10 new EU states last year compared with 8,900 from other EU states.
Immigration from non-EU states, excluding the US, reached a peak in 2002 at 30,000, but has almost halved since then.
The report also found that Ireland's murder rate reached a 35-year high last year, with 54 murders recorded. This was an increase of 17 on the previous year. Labour justice spokesman Brendan Howlin pointed to the worrying decrease in the detection rates for headline crime.
Detection rates for headline crimes such as murder were at 35.4 per cent, up from 34.8 per cent in 2004 but down from 36 per cent in 2003.
The report also found that 45.1 per cent of all households were connected to the internet in 2005, compared with just five per cent in 1998. Ireland ranked 11th of 24 EU countries for internet connections. Outside the EU, Iceland reported a household internet connection rate of 84 per cent.
Fine Gael social and family affairs spokesman David Stanton said the CSO report showed that the Government's approach to poverty was not working and the welfare system was failing the poor. "The statistics released by the CSO strongly indicate that this Government still cannot get a grip on the human blight that is poverty despite years of growth and a bulging Exchequer," he said.
Environment
Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions increased by almost 27 per cent between 1990 and 2001, according to the CSO's report.
It found that the Republic exceeded its 2008-2012 Kyoto target in 1997, and was almost 27 per cent over its 1990 level in 2001.
On average, emissions from EU states were 92 per cent of 1990 levels in 2003, but this State's rate was 123 per cent at that time.
The report also found that there was a 14 per cent increase in the total waste collected between 2002 and 2004.
However, the proportion of total waste sent to landfills dropped by almost 13 per cent between 2002 and 2004. Some 45.7 per cent of waste collected by local authorities here was landfilled in 2004, compared with just 2.7 per cent in the Netherlands and 4.5 per cent in Denmark.
The country with the worst recycling rate was Poland, with more than 94 per cent of municipal waste going to landfills. In the Republic, textiles, plastic and organic waste were most likely to be landfilled, while almost 56 per cent of glass was recycled and more than 45 per cent of paper.
Meanwhile, the number of private cars per 1,000 population rose from 364 in 1995 to 495 in 2004.
Our use of roads for carrying freight was the third highest in the EU in 2004, with only Cyprus and Malta having a higher usage of roads for freight. Roads were used to carry 97.7 per cent of freight in this State in 2004.
The study also found that the Republic spent considerably less on research and development as a percentage of GDP than other EU states between 1995 and 2004.
The Republic's spending was 1.2 per cent of GDP, compared with 3.74 per cent in Sweden and an EU average of 1.9 per cent.
It found that the number of applications made to the European Patent Office soared between 1994 and 1999 but then began to fall. In 2003, the Republic ranked 12th out of 29 countries for applications to the patent office.
In other findings, the average exit age from the Irish workforce was 62.8 years in 2004, the second highest age in the EU after Latvia.
Slovenia recorded the youngest retirement age from work - 56.2 years was the average age of people exiting the workforce.
Just one-third of women in the 55-64 age group were still in the Irish workforce in 2004, compared with 67 per cent of Swedish women. - Alison Healy
Schools
Ireland had the fifth-highest ratio of pupils to teachers at primary level in the EU in 2002/2003, according to the report.
The study found there were 18.7 pupils to every primary school teacher at that time. This compared with fewer than 11 pupils per teacher in Hungary, Denmark, Luxembourg and Italy.
The average primary class size in Ireland at that time was 24 children, the biggest class size for countries that provided figures. Figures were not available for Belgium, Finland, Sweden or the UK.
The country with the smallest class size was Lithuania - just over 15 children per class, followed by Luxembourg at 15.7.
Ireland's spending on education as a percentage of GDP was fourth-lowest in the 25 EU states in 2003, according to the report. Only Spain, Greece and Luxembourg spent less public money on education.
However, expenditure per student increased by more than 77 per cent for primary-level students and nearly 54 per cent for second-level students between 1995 and 2004. The corresponding increase at third level was just 5.4 per cent.
This contrast is explained by the falling numbers of students at primary and second level and the increase in third-level student numbers of more than 50 per cent.
The study also found that Ireland had the second-highest reading literacy - after Finland - for 15-year-olds in EU countries where statistics were available. This State was also above the OECD average in mathematical and scientific literacy.
Girls performed much better than boys in reading literacy tests in 2003, while boys performed better on mathematical literacy.
Ireland had the fourth-highest percentage of people with third-level education in the EU last year.
Almost 40 per cent of 25-34-year-olds had third-level education compared with an EU average of 28.5 per cent. Only Belgium, Spain and Cyprus had higher levels of participation.
EU candidate Romania had the lowest third-level participation, at 12.9 per cent of young adults.
The report shows that women are still more likely to remain in education than men. The proportion of women aged 25-34 in third-level education increased from 27.5 per cent in 1999 to 43.7 per cent in 2005. The rate for men rose from 26.7 per cent to 34.9 per cent at the same time.
Early school leavers represented 12.3 per cent of the 18-24 age group in 2005, compared with an EU average of 14.9 per cent. - Alison Healy
Economy
Ireland's economy and population have expanded at one of the fastest rates in the EU, according to the CSO survey.
However, it provides contradictory evidence on Ireland's income relative to the EU, and confirms that the proportion of people at risk of poverty remains one of the highest in the EU.
Ireland's budgetary position remained positive, but less impressive than during the 1990s. Additional findings of the survey confirm that the State's competitiveness has deteriorated significantly since 2000.
The report says Ireland's per capita Gross Domestic Product - the value of goods and services produced in the economy each year - was the second highest in the EU.
In terms of Gross National Income, a different measure which excludes the influence of foreign multinational activity on the economy, Ireland ranks just eighth in the EU in terms of average income.
The latter measure puts Ireland behind the UK, Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, Austria, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, but above Germany, France and Italy and 16 per cent higher than the EU average.
The survey finds that the share of those of working age in employment rose from 55 per cent in 1996 to 67.1 per cent.
Despite increasing slightly in recent years, from 3.6 per cent in 2001 to 4.2 per cent in 2005, Ireland's rate of unemployment in 2005 remained lower than any other country in the EU and was less than half the EU average.
The Government's budgetary position deteriorated from a net surplus during the 1990s to a slight deficit between 2000 and 2002, before recovering in 2003 and 2004.
The trade competitiveness of the economy has witnessed a sustained decline since 2000. Between 2000 and 2005, Irish inflation amounted to 18 per cent compared to an average 11 per cent for the 25 member states of the EU.
Despite this, Ireland remains one of the most successful EU states when it comes to attracting international investment.
Direct inward investment flows amounted to 6 per cent of GDP in 2004, over five times the corresponding level for the euro zone average of 1.1 per cent. - Marc Coleman, Economics Editor
Health
Healthcare spending has never been higher yet Ireland was in the bottom half of the EU league in 2001-2003 when expenditure as a percentage of GDP was taken into account, according to the report.
It found that an average €2,223 per person was spent on non-capital public healthcare expenditure in 2004. This was an increase of more than 80 per cent on 1995 levels.
However, when our spending as a percentage of GDP was taken into account, we ranked 16th out of 25 countries for health spending. Our expenditure on public and private health was 7.3 per cent of GDP in 2002, compared with 10.9 per cent in Germany and an EU average of 8.7 per cent.
The report also found that more than 6 per cent of men and 7 per cent of women were in consistent poverty in 2004. These people were most likely to be sick or have disabilities.
Some 21 per cent were deemed to be "at risk" of poverty in 2004.
The "at risk" threshold is 60 per cent of the average disposable income including social payments.
Irish spending on social protections such as social welfare was half the rate of Sweden, and was the lowest of the old 15 EU states.
Green Party deputy Dan Boyle said it was "worrying" that the figure had remained static since the last survey.
He said Government commitments to increase the lowest social welfare rate for a single person to 30 per cent of gross average industrial earnings might address some of the concerns but the pensions area needed "urgent reform".
The report also found that our population increased by 13.9 per cent to 4.1 million between 1996 and 2005. The number of lone-parent families jumped by almost 80 per cent in the past 10 years. There were 122,000 lone-parent families with children under 20 last year, and just over 10,000 of these were headed by a man.
The study also found that girls born between 2001-2003 had a lower life expectancy than the EU average, while boys were likely to live slightly longer than the typical EU male. Boys born in the early 2000s are expected to live to 75.8 years, while girls will continue to outlive them with a life expectancy of 80.3 years.
The report also found that we continue to be the most fertile race in Europe. In 2004, the typical Irish woman was expected to have 1.95 children, compared to an EU average of 1.5. The lowest fertility rate was found in Slovenia at 1.22 per cent. - Alison Healy
The way we are
Our population increased by almost 14 per cent to more than 4.1 million between 1996 and 2005.
We are still the most fertile state in Europe with the average woman expected to have 1.95 children compared to an EU average of 1.5.
16,600 people emigrated last year while 70,000 immigrants came here.
The average value of a new housing loan rose from €48,600 in 1995 to €171,500 in 2004.
We have one of the highest third-level education rates in Europe, with 39.2 per cent of 25-34 year olds with third-level qualification.
Our unemployment rate was the lowest in the EU last year (4.2 per cent) at less than half the EU average.
Our gross domestic product (GDP) per capita was the second highest in 2004.
The proportion of people at risk of poverty was one of the highest in the EU in 2004.
Our direct inward investment was 6 per cent of GDP in 2004 - over five times the euro zone figure.
Our greenhouse gas emissions were 126.9 per cent of 1990 levels in 2001.
Source: Measuring Ireland's Progress 2005 from the CSO. See www.cso.ie for the full report.
