The Central Statistics Office has said it will examine on how to provide accurate measures of Ireland's economic performance , in the wake of controversy over the huge 26 per cent GDP growth rate recorded for 2015.

In a statement on Wednesday it said it would “convene a high-level cross sector consultative group to examine how best to provide insight and understanding of all aspects of the Irish economy.”

The CSO’s statement came following questioning of the GNP figures from a range of international and Irish analysts, and a general acceptance that the recorded growth rate did not reflect underlying economic activity.

The statement said: “The CSO, like all national statistical institutes, must publish the key economic indicators of GDP and GNP in accordance with the international rules.”

Indicators

It added that the National Accounts 2015 did accurately “capture and highlight the open and globalised nature of the Irish economy.”

However the CSO added that “ due to the highly globalised nature of our economy, GDP and GNP do not always help to understand what is happening in the domestic economy” .

It is important, the CSO said, that we look at a broad range of indicators “ to get a sense of what is happening in the economy”. These figures include consumer spending, unemployment data and retail sales.

The CSO statement said that the consultative group would look at the development and expansion of existing indicators “ within the national accounts framework”, the identification of where additional details would best help to provide insights, the potential to develop new indicators and whether new presentations of existing information would improve understanding.