asked the Taoiseach if in conjunction with the cost of living index he will state in money terms the amount necessary per week to provide an adult with the items covered by the cost of living index in order to enable him to live in minimum comfort.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Cost of Living Index.
1.
The expenditure pattern which is used as the basis for the weights in the consumer price index is that for the average urban household and is derived from the household budget inquiry, 1965-66. These figures represent the actual expenditure incurred by the households and cannot be considered as equivalent to their minimum needs. Moreover, household expenditure has not been allocated between adults and children within the household. It is not possible, therefore, to give the information requested by the Deputy.
I must confess that that reply does not mean very much. Can the Parliamentary Secretary state specifically what it costs to keep an individual in this country in minimum comfort?
The question of minimum comfort is a subjective concept—
Will the Parliamentary Secretary give us his own idea then?
——and it is not one that can be fixed by the Government or by anybody else. It is a matter of opinion.
It is a matter of fact, minimum comfort.
What may be minimum comfort for one person——
May be discomfort for another.
——may be hardship for someone else.
Let us give an example then. Say the old age pensioner who has £3 15s per week and living on his or her own.
If he has to pay rent——
It depends on each individual. The Government cannot lay down a particular figure and say that this shall be a figure that will give minimum comfort.
They lay down £3 15s.
That is the pension that is payable but it is not necessarily——
Would the Parliamentary Secretary not admit that there are thousands in this country who are living below the poverty line?
Would the Taoiseach like to define what he would consider to be poverty in this country?
That is a separate question. Question No. 2.
Fianna Fáil policy.
(Interruptions.)
Has Deputy Cruise-O'Brien a question?
I have, yes.
Well, he whispered it.
I asked a supplementary question and I asked if the Taoiseach would answer it.
The Parliamentary Secretary is perfectly capable of handling whatever questions I entrust to him.
He did not answer it.
The Taoiseach asked me to repeat my question. I shall do so standing. I asked whether the Taoiseach was not sufficiently interested in the question of poverty in this country to answer these questions himself.
He was interested in it before ever the Deputy came here.
I was born and reared closer to poverty than ever the Deputy knew.
Deputies
Hear, hear.
The Deputy's interest in this country is a very late one.
Would the Taoiseach like to define "poverty"?
The Taoiseach just manages to make the breadline now.