Batt O'Keeffe
Question:175 Mr. B. O'Keeffe asked the Taoiseach his plans to ensure that increases in the price of tobacco products will be exempted from the consumer price index under the new social partnership agreement. [6482/03]
Written Answers - Social Partnership Agreements.
The proposed new agreement Sustaining Progress states that in the context of the agreement on pay and the maintenance of employment and competitiveness, the Government, along with IBEC and ICTU, will work together to help exert downward pressure on inflation, particularly over the next 18 months.
In this context, the parties recognised that an explicit and co-ordinated set of policies could help to slow down the present rate of domestically generated inflation. In Sustaining Progress, the Government has agreed that proposals for action will be co-ordinated by a specially convened group, which will draw up a detailed action plan and monitor progress. IBEC and ICTU have prepared a range of measures, which they will pursue through this group. The proposed membership of the group and the proposals for action are set out in the new agreement.
The exemption of increases in the price of tobacco products from the consumer price index is not one of the proposals for action under the new agreement Sustaining Progress.