PwC and Fujitsu have worked on a pilot project to introduce controversial financial reporting language XBRL into one of the Irish Central Statistics Office's quarterly industry surveys.

The project was the first live implementation of XBRL in Ireland.

XBRL is used to 'tag' financial data, allowing the data to be easily understood, transmitted and viewed by stakeholders.

However, both the Inland Revenue and FSA have recently put back XBRL schemes to later dates.

Industry commentators have said that too many taxonomies have been created within XBRL, making it too complicated, time-consuming and costly for companies to use in its current guise.

The CSO stated that when the adoption of XBRL increases in Ireland, the publication of its taxonomy will facilitate companies to complete the survey directly from their accounting systems, making it easier to comply with CSO reporting obligations.

The CSO's head of e-government, Maureen Delamere, said: 'The CSO is committed to continually exploring ways of reducing the burden on our data providers.

'We are very pleased at having led the way with the first implementation of XBRL in Ireland and are delighted at how successful our pilot was. This is an important milestone and the CSO is keen to further explore the opportunities presented by XBRL.'

The US SEC is currently accepting filings in an XBRL format as part of its own pilot scheme.