S.I. No. 40 of 2003

ORDER

entitled

Statistics (Service Inquiries) Order 2003

I, Mary Hanafin, Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by the section 25(1) of No. 21 of 1993 ) and the Statistics (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order 2002 ( S.I. No. 313 of 2000 ), hereby order as follows:

1.   This Order may be cited as the Statistics (Service Inquiries) Order 2003.

2.   This Order applies to an undertaking engaged in the provision of any one or more of the services specified in Schedule 1 to this Order.

3.   (1)   It is prescribed that an undertaking to which this Order applies shall provide the Central Statistics Office with the information specified in Schedules 2,3 and 4 to this Order in statistical form pursuant to surveys (the first of which shall be in the year 2003 and the last of which shall be in the year 2007) undertaken by that Office at intervals of not more than 12 months.

(2)   The information referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article shall relate to the year immediately preceding that in which the relevant survey is undertaken, save that in the case of employment matters the information referred to in the said paragraph shall relate to both the year in which the relevant survey is undertaken and the year immediately preceding that year.

SCHEDULE 1

1. Distributive trade services, that is to say retail and wholesale trade services.

2. Non-distributive services, including personal, recreational, transport, financial and business services.

3. Financial services, including insurance, banking (including financial intermediaries and auxiliaries) and pensions.

SCHEDULE 2

1.   General description of the business activity,

2.   Particulars of the main categories of goods and services provided by the undertaking,

3.   Particulars of the accounting year covered by the return,

4.   Particulars of the turnover of the undertaking,

5.   Particulars of indirect taxes paid or payable by the undertaking,

6.   Particulars of stock levels of the undertaking,

7.   Particulars of the capital assets of the undertaking and charges thereto,

8.   Particulars of purchases of goods and services by the undertaking,

9.   Particulars of wages, salaries and other labour costs of the undertaking,

10. Particulars of the persons engaged in the undertaking,

11. Particulars of the numbers, persons engaged, personnel costs, turnover and locations of subsidiaries, branches and outlets of the undertaking in the State,

12. Particulars of the legal form by which the business is organised,

13. Particulars of investment in the business, together with details of gross margin of the activity.

14. Particulars of imports and exports by the undertaking,

15. Particulars of location of (ultimate beneficial) ownership.

16. Particulars relating to e-commerce usage and particulars relating to the turnover resulting from e-commerce.

17. Particulars relating to Research and Development and also particulars relating to foreign affiliate trade statistics.

SCHEDULE 3

1.  Particulars relating to structural data,

2.  Particulars relating to profit & loss (income & expenditure) accounting data,

3.  Particulars relating to balance sheet (Assets & liabilities) accounting data,

4.  Particulars relating to data by product,

5.  Particulars relating to data on internal markets and internationalisation,

6.  Particulars relating to employment data,

7.  Particulars relating to residual data.

SCHEDULE 4

1.  General description of the insurance activity,

2.  Particulars of the main categories of insurance, life insurance or reinsurance provided by the undertaking,

3. Particulars relating to gross direct premiums,

4. Particulars relating to reinsurance and re-insurers,

5. Particulars relating to investments,

6. Particulars relating to claims,

7. Particulars relating to operating expenses,

6. Particulars relating to profit and loss accounting data,

7. Particulars relating to commissions and expenses,

8. Particulars relating to number of persons employed,

9. Particulars relating to balance sheet accounting data.

Explanatory Note

S.I. No. 40 of 2003

Statistics (Service Inquiries) Order 2003

The Annual Services Inquiry was initiated in 1991. The purpose of the Order is to enable the Government to determine the performance of the Distribution and Non-Distribution sectors of the economy. It is directed towards Retailers, Wholesalers and certain Service sectors. A sample survey is undertaken on a statutory basis.

The results of the Inquiry are used in the compilation of the National Accounts. They are also used extensively for economic and physical planning at national level.

Commercial concerns use the results for market research, business analysis and development plans. Individual traders and service establishments also benefit. They may use the results to compare their performance with other concerns in the same line of business.

Dermot McCarthy

Secretary General

Department of the Taoiseach

February 2003