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A REPORT MEASURING Ireland’s progress gives mixed reports about how we are getting on as a country, with the Central Statistics Office collecting data to show that while we are improving at some things, we are lagging behind in others.
The Measuring Ireland’s Progress Report 2012, gives a mixture of good news – like Ireland being the only country in the EU to experience a decrease in inflation from 2008 to 2012 and then bad news – like Ireland being the fifth most expensive state in the EU in 2012.
Here is a round-up of the good news and bad news in terms of how we are progressing:
Economy:
Ireland was the only country in the EU to experience a decrease in inflation between 2008 and 2012.
GDP rose slightly by 0.2 per cent in 2012. Here is how we compared to other countries in 2012:
The public balance deficit was 8.2 per cent of GDP, the third largest in the EU (which is not great) but a big improvement on 2010 when it was 30.6 per cent.
The productivity of the Irish workforce in 2012, measured by GDP per person employed, was 43 per cent higher than the EU average.
The productivity of the Irish workforce remained above the EU average by 29 per cent, however we do work longer hours.
Population and Procreation:
Ireland’s population is increasing at the third highest rate in the EU and it has the highest proportion of young people and the second lowest proportion of old people in the EU
Ireland has the highest fertility rate and the second lowest divorce rate in the EU. Ireland had the highest fertility rate in the EU in 2011 at 2.04, ahead of France and the United Kingdom.
Fertility graph
Property
The average value of a new housing loan in Ireland rose from €159,600 in 2003 to €270,200 in 2008 before dropping by over a third to €173,600 in 2012.
Education
Early school-leaver rate is better than the EU average.
The proportion of the population aged 25-34 in Ireland that has completed third-level education is the fourth highest in the EU.
Real expenditure per student in Ireland increased over the period 2003-2012 by 16% at first level and by 12% at second level.
A tenth of the Irish population aged 18-24 left school with at most lower secondary education in 2012, better than the EU average of 13 per cent.
Crime
The number of homicide offences recorded in Ireland fell from 132 in 2007 to 79 in 2012, a decrease of just over 40 per cent.
Environment
The level of acid rain precursor emissions fell from 464.6 SO2 equivalent per 1,000 tonnes of gas emitted in 2000 to 318.1 in 2008, 4 per cent above the Gothenburg Protocol 2010 target level of 306.
A total of 48 per cent of waste was landfilled in 2011, a decrease on the 2003 figure of 61 per cent.
Health
Current public expenditure on health care in Ireland averaged €3,044 per person in 2011, an increase of 15 per cent on 2002.
Life expectancy at birth in Ireland in 2011, as calculated by Eurostat, is 83 years for females, which is 0.4 years above the EU average. The male life expectancy at birth in Ireland was 78.6 years, nearly two years above the EU average
Economy:
The public balance deficit was the third highest of any EU member state at just over 8 per cent of GDP, while government debt increased to 117.4 per cent of GDP, having been at only 44.2 per cent of GDP in 2008.
Ireland’s gross fixed capital formation fell sharply since 2008 to only 10 per cent of GDP in 2012, lower than any other EU state.
In 2012, Ireland was the fifth most expensive state behind Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Luxembourg – with prices here recorded as 15 per cent above the EU average.
Ireland’s rating in comparison to EU average.
Current expenditure by central and local government as a percentage of GDP increased each year between 2003 and 2010, rising from 27 per cent in 2003 to 39.3 per cent in 2010. However there was a small decline in 2011 when current expenditure by central and local government fell to 38.1 per cent of GDP and a further small drop in 2012 to 37.7 per cent.
Graph of Central and Local Government current expenditure, 2003-2012.
Employment
Unemployment rate was the fifth highest in the EU. The employment rate (for those aged 15-64) in Ireland rose from 65.2 per cent in 2003 to 69.1 per cent in 2007, but fell to 58.8 per cent by 2012.
Employment rates by sex from 2003-2013.
Property
The number of new houses and apartments, after peaking at almost 90,000 during the boom in 2006, collapsed to 8,488 in 2012, below the level in 1970, which is one of the factors being blamed for rising prices in the capital.
Education
Average class size at primary level in Ireland is the second highest in the EU. Average class size at primary level in Ireland in 2010/2011 was 24.1.
There was a decrease in spending by a fifth – 20.1 per cent – at third level, despite increase in primary and secondary.
Crime
Over the period 2007-2012, the number of sexual offences increased by 50 per cent while the number of robbery, extortion and hijacking offences over the same time period rose by nearly 30 per cent.
Poverty
In 2011 6.9 per cent of the population were in consistent poverty. This was an increase on the level recorded in 2010, when 6.3 per cent of the population was living in consistent poverty.
Environment
The percentage of waste recovered in Ireland rose to 43 per cent in 2011, from just under a quarter in 2003.
Do you agree with the CSO results – is Ireland seeing an improvement or do we still have some way to go. Why not tell us in the comments section below.
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Who gives a flying fiddlers!
They know exactly where you live. They know what you like. They know the porn sites you look up, they know that you surf the internet looking at grotesque acts of bestiality. Then they serve you adverts from animal porn stars and you click on it. They know your dirty little secrets and they make money from it.
That’s probably just you Inda.
Can someone tell me please, is the issue not parallel to how Google manage browsing histories? And they have a 1 button… Isn’t that the same thing? If so, why have the same people not challenged Google too… ?? Thanks in advance.
I don’t get it, people volunteer to join Facebook. Are European governments afraid of feedback they can’t control?
People are clearly missing the point here, Its not about being a member of facebook. its about tracking websites you visit which feature the like button. It doesnt matter if you click it or ignore it, the very fact you were on the page is logged. Personally I dont have a problem with this but I can see how some people would.
I’m analysing people’s browsing habits right now: 60% of people don’t read the article they’re commenting on.
The principle being addressed here is interesting, but I suspect the ‘Like’ button is a drop in the ocean. It’s an inevitable fact of the internet that your browsing history is being recorded somewhere and will be looked at by someone, either now or years down the line. Anonymity is a myth for 99% of users, only the very focussed cna keep their use history secret. Attacking Facebook on this issue is just going after the easy, visible and relatively accountable target – a better approach would be to teach people that they leave a permanent digital trail that can potentially be used commercially, legally or illegally by pretty much anyone.
Good point about Google+
The overall point is something people really don’t understand: You are being watched all the time online; every website you visit, how long you spend on a particular page and even where your mouse is moving on a page can be tracked. Combine that with all the personal information you provide voluntarily through profiles, tweets, opinions, comments etc and a pretty substantial profile can be constructed. The old chestnut of ‘if you have nothing to hide yadda yadda’ simply doesn’t stand when you consider that this information is being used all the time by regimes like Syria, Iran etc but is also being used by the FBI, CIA, DHS etc and they have ruined the lives of many innocent people whom they wrongfully accused and detained. Right now both Australia and Canada are putting together legislation to give their respective governments and law agencies almost unrestricted surveillance powers (see EFF website).
And if we know all that and don’t care?
It’s my data. If I’m happy to share it than it’s my business.
I agree with Michael. Who gives a fiddlers, it is not compulsory to use it. FFS have they nothing better to do than this.
Howard (and Michael): The whole point about this is that it doesn’t matter whether you’re a Facebook member or not. Irrespective of whether you’ve ever joined Facebook or typed ‘www.facebook.com’ into your browser, the way the Like button currently works means that Facebook can build a log of your internet browsing simply because you’ve gone to some pages that feature the ‘Like’ button.
Is there a dislike button for this article?
No, but there is one for your comment which is being used quite a lot.
Uptight Much?? Just a bit of fun… Or do you and tour friend Charlie Sheen not enjoy fun?? Lol rofl pmsl etc
bad grammar much?
Ironic that at the bottom of this story there is…….. a “Like” button
If you dont like facebook dont join it.Simple as that.
Gareth, did u bother reading the piece, it can track u even if u’r not joined up to facebook. But as the largest social networking site it goes beyond choice, It needs to be regulated. In some regimes even the word ‘choice’ would be flagged!
See Gavan’s comment above, its clear you don’t understand how the like button actually works
It’s not "simple as that" They are still recording your data even if you are NOT a member of Facebook!!!
It’s kinda like if you went shopping one Saturday and some company followed you all day and record what you did and where you went your home address… Then the company "sell" this info to another company in which they send junk mail to your house, flyers on your car… etc…
Now imagine if some con artiste acquired this info on you. They know where you live!!!!
If the main legal issue is that Facebook currently stores EU browsing data on US-based web servers, can they deal with this simply by storing EU browsing data on EU servers?
Ok – I get the bit about Facebook being able to collect browsing data without me being a Facebook user or having clicked the Like button. It is a bit ominous.
But this question about where the data is stored seems to me to be a very anachronistic law. This is the digital age. My payroll each month might be processed by my company in Singapore, I log in to approve a purchase order and the server is in Brazil. I go home and log on to YouTube and my browsing hops through servers in Kiev and Bangalore across the internet.
Having laws specifying the country into which I must keep data might allow for better data protection controls, but in business today, you host your business applications, your e-mails, your social networking sites wherever is most cost effective.
I started reading this and started to lose the will to live in this over regulated world….. (pity they didn’t take the banking system this seriously)
Facebook have an office here so I think we already know how this is going to end.
So google analytics is illegal too then right?
That depends on whether it’s the data scraping, or the fact that it’s done outside the EU, that’s illegal. The German DPC I mentioned reckons it’s the latter issue.
Ok.so big brother is watching us all the time from the use of cctv,internet,smart phones and iphones.Theres nothing we can do about it.Its a fact of life today.Thanks to everybody for explaining it to me.Im not on facebook and never will be.
It had nothing to do with people on Facebook!!!! If you never use facebook this still can affect you!!!!
GARETH YOUR TOOOOOO LATE – this page HAS a LIKE BUTTON therefore facebook is already tracking your every click on any and every page you visit from here on in REGARDLESS of the fact that you have never visited facebook or have a facebook profile or have never interacted with anyone who has a facebook account. If someone you know has a photo of you they can download it onto their facebook page and tag you – ie. when someone moves a curser over YOUR face in the photo, your name will pop up beside your face and the date the picture was downloaded will also be visible. That photo is out there with you tagged in it FOREVER for EVERYONE to see it!!!!!!!! And what if that photo showed you doing something naughty and your partner sees it. What if you’d split up with a psycho boyfriend/girlfriend and didnt want them knowing where you are socialising or what your doing?????
Store the data in Ireland.
Problem solved.
Now, where’s my consultancy moneies?
Check is in the post Terry
I want a dislike button. Man I hate so much. : )
There is no privacy on line never has been never will be.
Someone people have far too much time on their hands and for once it’s not the people who use Facebook.
Is that all these “Jinnets ” have to do with their time !!
RE: Privacy and the Like …. It seems the box containg the Like function is what tracks FB and non FB users by monitoring their IP movements before and aftersite so surely it up to the sites hosting this function to decide if it viewers are being tracked or not. By virtue of the fact that Jounal.ie used the Fb “like” module on it’s site it has been unwittingly sending data to american servers. Now that this new information is out , will EU websites, such as the lovely Journal.ie, trade huge amounts of traffic it recieves via FB for the data privacy of it’s readers or simply wait for the slow legal machine to outlaw this process? The slightly unnerving reality of data-srcaping is that your time-stamped IP address and hence terrestrial address and identity is sitting on servers in the US in duplicate. It would seem we’re on American turf here. (a country that has very different notions of freedom and/of information than we do.)
about a minute ago, Like
It’s great that you can ‘dislike’ something and have it tracked so much it becomes data and that Europe have it as data also. I have to pay a ‘universal social charge’ to a past government ‘cos they screwed me over and people don’t feel the need to get irate. Get a grip, Folks! Wish I could think of a scam involving my dead budgie’s cousin’s wife’s aunt’s nephew’s chipmunk’s nuts from Nigeria could gain me huge sponduliks.
Speaking of Privacy and the like:
Look what I just came across…..
its a big pile of crap really ! at least you have a choice to push the button or not , its data collection over a comment or YouTube video every site does it , mainly Google or the iPhone tracking your movements (not bowl movements) it doesn’t phase me in the least and either should you
Ignorance is bliss.
Bowl movements? I always put mine in the dishwasher when I’m finished
lol… some people haven’t a clue!!!
What’s your bank details because I need to lodge $53,9765,335 from my dead ant’s account in Nigeria before the government get their hands on it!!!
i dislike that
Same problem with browser cookies. Is there a decision on the legislation there yet?
Browser cookies aren’t the same. They’re stored on your own PC and you have control over whether or not to keep them or delete them.
God bless the Austrians looking out for our well being. Of course they have a history of producing concerned citizens including that lad with the funny wee tash.
Honestly the crap civil servants are coming up with to justify their irrelevant existence
this is just about keeping the wheels of beurocracy firmly clogged
The complaint was made by an Austrian based lobby group. Nothing to do with Civil Sevants. Read the article first!!!
Like.
Start Page. com, No IP tracking
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