Donegal bottom of income table

Senna

Donegal and Kerry bottom of income table


By Louise Hogan
Friday February 29 2008

THOSE who call the rugged county of Donegal home lag far behind the capital's city-slickers when it comes to the amount of cash they have to splash.

An analysis of disposable income on a county-by-county basis has revealed startling disparities between the regions.

People in Dublin command an average disposable yearly income of €22,793, compared with Donegal's average of €16,546.

The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office for income in 2005 found the Dublin region had the largest amount to splurge, at 13pc above the State average of €20,164.

The only counties with an average disposable income per person above the State average were Dublin, Limerick, Kildare and Wicklow.

"Dublin and the mid-east are consistently the highest," a spokesman for the CSO said. "Since 2001, it seems to be narrowing."

Those in Kildare commanded an average disposable income of €21,186, while Wicklow was slightly lower at €20,187 and Limerick stood at €20,482.

Bottom of the list came Donegal, followed by Kerry at €17,364, Carlow at €17,733, and Mayo at €17,879.

In 2005, the disposable cash per person in the southern and eastern region was 3pc above the State average, compared with the border, midland and western area which lagged 8pc below.

Since 2000, the average disposable income has risen steadily, from a State average of €13,977 to €20,164 in 2005.

As further job losses were confirmed in Donegal yesterday, Donegal TD, Dinny McGinley, said the figures were a reflection of the massive number of job losses there over the past seven or eight years.

Joe McHugh, Donegal north-east TD, said the county had one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. He said the region should be "enjoying the benefits" of living close to Derry as the fourth-largest city in the country.

Consumers spent €82bn in 2006, according to CSO figures, with more splurged on alcohol than food.

- Louise Hogan

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/donegal-and-kerry-bottom-of-income-table-1302146.html


Nothing new but still an interesting comparison with the the rest of the country, obviously cost of living isn't taken into it and if it was, i'm sure Dublin wouldn't be top off that list. And i think Donegal wouldn't be at the bottom.
As Joe McHugh and Dinny McGinley says unemployment levels has a lot to do with it, as again we come bottom of the list in employment levels too. 6%+/- (un-sourced) unemployed in Donegal and with a major economic slow down expected, a lot of people are oblivious to harder times a head.
I'd like to see figures for the amount of people employed in the construction industry in Donegal too. I'm sure they'll be around the national average, but if we are more dependent on construction, then employment levels may rise further again than the national average.

sesswhat

As they don't define what they mean by disposable income in this case it's very hard to make any meaningful comparisons.

Like you say, it would be interesting to know if Donegal is starting to feel the pinch from the building slowdown. Apart from the local building trade there are a lot of Donegal-based workers who commute daily or weekly to construction projects elsewhere.

There are also a few landlords, in the Twin Towns area at least, who would be left with empty properties if Eastern European workers left to find work elsewhere.