asked the Taoiseach the present consumer price index figure: and if he will make a statement on how it is calculated.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Consumer Price Index.
3.
The consumer price index with base mid-November, 1968, as 100 was 188.2 at mid-November, 1974.
The index calculations are based on the principle of pricing fixed, i.e. unchanged, quantities of consumer goods and services each quarter. The quarterly change in the total cost of these articles gives the corresponding change in the overall level of retail prices. Representative varieties and sizes are priced for a fixed selection of 343 articles in a fixed national sample of retail outlets each quarter and approximately 30,000 individual price quotations are received on each occasion in respect of some 2,500 retail outlets. The correctness of the relative price change required for the index calculations is ensured by the fact that individual price collectors price the identical articles in the same shops in successive quarters.
A full description of all technical aspects of the calculation of the consumer price index is given in a detailed article published in the March, 1969, issue of the Irish Statistical Bulletin, pages 27-33.
Could I ask the Parliamentary Secretary what the present position is in relation to the household budget survey which I submit has some relevance to the answer he has just given?
I do not think it has but, if it has, I cannot give the Deputy that information now. I suggest that he might ask for it separately.