asked the Taoiseach whether the Central Statistics Office or any other relevant body has carried out any recent survey as to the pattern of expenditure on food, housing, fuel, and other commodities by old age pensioners and other persons dependent on social welfare payments; and, if not, whether he will ensure that such a survey is carried out in the near future.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Pattern of Expenditure by Social Welfare Recipients.
13.
No inquiry of the type mentioned by the Deputy has been carried out recently by the Central Statistics Office or, as far as is known, by any other body.
The Household Budget Inquiry, which the Central Statistics Office had hoped to have completed by now, has been delayed by unavailability of the technical staff which was needed for the planning stages. However, considerable preliminary work has been done on the project and it is expected that the inquiry proper will start in the spring of next year.
It is intended to include in the sample of households investigated those households containing old age pensioners and other persons dependent on social welfare payments in the proportion in which such households occur in all town areas in the State. It is, however, very doubtful whether it will be possible, because of the limited size of the total sample, to produce separately data on the expenditure of such households, distinguishing those for which payments of the kind in question constitute the only source of income. Separate information on expenditure patterns will, however, be given for households at different income levels.