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E-mail: busreg@cso.ie Barry Sobey (+353) 21 453 5355
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information@cso.ie (+353) 21 453 5000 On-line ISSN 2009-6720
CSO statistical release, , 11am

Response Burden Barometer

2013

  2005200620072008200920101201120122013
Administrative Burden, actual compliance (Response Burden Barometer)100.0102.6118.2119.9111.0117.979.974.081.1
1 2010 figures reflect the decennial Census of Agriculture

Burden on business down over 32% from peak

Response Burden Index, 2005=100
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The Response Burden Barometer (RBB) for 2013 reduced by 18.9% since it was first measured in 2005, and when measured against the peak year of 2008, the RBB reduced by 32.4%.

The RBB is a measure of the total administrative burden placed on Irish enterprises and agricultural holdings by Central Statistics Office (CSO) surveys when calculated on an actual compliance basis1.

There was a rise of 9.6% in the burden between 2012 and 2013. This can be largely attributed to the Farm Structure Survey which is carried out under Regulation (EC) No 1166/2008 every 2-3 years. When this takes place, the sample size of the June Agriculture Survey increases from approximately 12,000 to 55,000. As some surveys such as this and the Census of Agriculture (every ten years) etc, don't take place every year, care needs to be taken when comparing the RBB of one year to that of the previous one.  There can also be natural fluctuation with enterprises entering and leaving the survey population over the course of the year, and variation in response expected. Improved data and development of methodologies also contribute to variation within the RBB. The cost to business of this burden was €4.6 million in 2013. See Tables 1 & 2.

It is estimated that there were 365,700 active business enterprises (including agricultural holdings) in Ireland in 2013. In the course of 2013, the CSO issued 350,900 surveys forms, or an average of 0.96 survey forms per enterprise. There were 243,900 forms returned as partially or wholly completed, representing an average of 0.67 forms per enterprise. See Table 2.

If burden is measured on the basis of partially or fully completed survey forms actually returned to the CSO (i.e., if burden is based on actual compliance), then the total number of hours spent by enterprises in 2013 was 213,200, or 35 minutes per enterprise. The administrative cost, measured on 2005 prices, of actual compliance was €7.7 million, or €21 per enterprise. The administrative burden of actual compliance in 2013 was €4.6 million, or €13 per enterprise2. See Measurement Methodology & Table 2.

If all survey forms issued by the CSO were partially or wholly completed and returned (i.e.,  if there had been full compliance), then the total number of hours spent on this task by enterprises in Ireland in 2013 would have been 267,900, or an average of 44 minutes per enterprise. The administrative cost of full compliance was €9.9 million, or €27 per enterprise. The administrative burden (i.e., administrative costs less business-as-usual costs) of full compliance would have been €6.0 million, or €16 per enterprise. See Measurement Methodology & Table 2.

The most burdensome survey in 2013 was the Trade Intrastat Imports survey, which issued 58,700 forms, of which 53,000 were returned partially or wholly completed.

The administrative costs of completing all Intrastat Imports forms in 2013 were €3.2 million. Of the purely CSO surveys, the full compliance administrative costs of the Balance of Payment surveys were €785,200 in 2013, while the actual compliance administrative costs were €748,100.


 1 Actual compliance basis: calculated on a time and cost basis of fully or partially completed returns to the CSO. This is the preferred method of the European Statistical System for calculating the Response Burden Barometer level.

2 The  hourly administrative cost figure used in the calculations was €44.83(based on 2005 figures). The administrative burden of CSO surveys was 60.32% of the administrative costs figure. Please see Methodology for further details.

Table 1 Total Administrative Burden, actual compliance (Response Burden Barometer) Index, 2005 = 100
All Surveys200520062007200820092010¹201120122013
Forms Issued10089.711297.795112.474.469.279.4
Forms Returned10092.9110.797.393.3115.373.968.478.5
Time, full compliance (forms issued) - hours100103.5122.5125113.9116.882.475.881.9
Time, actual compliance (forms returned) - hours100102.5115.3116.2108.5113.782.176.682.8
Administrative Burden, full compliance100103.8126.3129.5116.6120.680.173.180.3
Administrative Burden, actual compliance (Response Burden Barometer)100102.6118.2119.9111117.979.97481.1
1 2010 figures reflect the decennial Census of Agriculture
Table 2 Forms, Time taken to complete forms, Administrative Burden, All Surveys
  2005 2011120122013
Total number of active business enterprises (incl. agricultural holdings) 362,100 369,600369,600365,700
       
Number of forms Issued      
All Surveys 441,900 328,800305,900350,900
Average number of survey forms per business enterprise per year  1.22 0.890.830.96
       
Number of forms Returned      
All Surveys 310,600 229,400212,400243,900
Average number of survey forms per business enterprise per year  0.86 0.620.570.67
       
Time, full compliance (forms issued), hours      
All Surveys 327,200 269,600247,900267,900
Average number of minutes per business enterprise per year  54.2 43.840.244.0
       
Time, actual compliance (forms returned), hours      
All Surveys 257,400 211,200197,100213,200
Average number of minutes per business enterprise per year  42.6 34.332.035.0
       
Administrative Costs, full compliance, 2005 prices      
All Surveys (€) 12,295,100 9,843,1008,991,4009,869,700
Average administrative cost (€) per business enterprise per year  33.96 26.6324.3326.99
       
Administrative Burden, full compliance, 2005 prices      
All Surveys (€) 7,416,400 5,937,4005,423,6005,953,400
Average administrative burden (€) per business enterprise per year 20.48 16.0714.6816.28
       
Administrative Costs, actual compliance, 2005 prices      
All Surveys (€) 9,450,800 7,548,0006,989,2007,667,200
Average administrative cost (€) per business enterprise per year 26.10 20.4218.9120.97
       
Administrative Burden, actual compliance, 2005 prices      
All Surveys (Response Burden Barometer) (€) 5,700,700 4,553,0004,215,9004,624,800
Average administrative burden (€) per business enterprise per year  15.75 12.3211.4112.65
1 2011 figures revised to reflect updates to the BEU survey and QSC survey response totals      
   

Background Notes

Minimising survey response burden

Notwithstanding the ever-growing international demand for statistics (from organisations such as the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the United Nations, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, etc.), minimising the administrative burden placed on CSO business respondents is, and has been for many years, a corporate priority of the CSO. (See the CSO’s Statement of Strategy 2012-2014) The CSO has taken, and continues to take, a number of actions towards this end. Amongst these actions are:- 

  • Increased use of administrative data (especially from the Revenue Commissioners), reducing the need to collect information from enterprises;
  • Reduction of sample sizes where possible;
  • Reduction of the level of detail collected on questionnaires across a number of surveys;
  • Introduction of short annual forms for small enterprises, with the more detailed forms being sent to the larger enterprises only;
  • Re-design of questionnaires to align as far as possible with Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet accounts entries;
  • Increased use of electronic rather than paper forms;
  • Working with software companies to incorporate functionality into payroll software programs which automatically extracts and completes almost all of the requirements of the Earnings, Hours and Employment Costs Survey and a large portion of the requirements of the National Employment Survey.

In the case of Ireland it should be noted that most, but not all, government statistical inquiries are conducted by the CSO, and that all CSO surveys are driven by EU legislation with limited scope for national interpretation during implementation. The above actions have been possible within the structures of the governing EU legislation.

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