asked the Taoiseach the average retail price at (1) 1st March, 1957 and (2) the latest available date of (a) a loaf of bread, (b) a pound of butter, (c) a pound of tea, (d) a pound of sugar, (e) a hundredweight of coal, (f) a unit of electricity, (g) an ounce of tobacco, (h) twenty cigarettes, and (i) a stone of flour.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Retail Price of Commodities.
4.
The information on retail prices available to the Central Statistics Office is that collected at the quarterly enquiries for the compilation of the Consumer Price Index. The appropriate data for 1957 relate to 11th February, and the most recent particulars are those for 15th August, 1960. I propose, with the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, to include in the Official Report, a statement giving the available national average retail prices, at these dates, for certain of the items requested.
The items included in the statement relate to those commodities for which it is reasonably certain that the specification of the items priced is uniform throughout the country. In the case of cigarettes and tobacco, no attempt is made to price the same variety in different areas, though the variety priced is kept uniform at each reporting centre. For this reason, meaningful national average prices cannot be given for these items. In the case of electricity, since the average domestic price per unit to a consumer depends on the quantity consumed and on the nature of its use, the basic data for the price of electricity in the Consumer Price Index are derived from information supplied by the Electricity Supply Board. For the year ended 31st March, 1957, the average price charged per unit of domestic supply of electricity was 2.34 pence. For the year ended 31st March, 1960, the corresponding figure was 2.40 pence per unit.
Following is the statement:—
NATIONAL average retail prices of certain commodities at mid-February, 1957 and mid-August, 1960.
|
Average price to nearest ¼d. |
|||||
|
Article |
Unit |
Mid-February, 1957 |
Mid-August, 1960 |
||
|
s. |
d. |
s. |
d. |
||
|
Bread |
2 lb. loaf |
9 |
1 |
3 |
|
|
Butter—Irish Creamery |
lb. |
3 |
8¾ |
4 |
6½ |
|
,, ,, Farmers' |
,, |
3 |
4¾ |
3 |
9¾ |
|
Tea—best |
,, |
8 |
3 |
7 |
5½ |
|
—as used by wage earning classes |
,, |
7 |
1¼ |
6 |
1¾ |
|
Sugar |
,, |
7 |
7½ |
||
|
Coal |
cwt. |
11 |
2¼ |
8 |
8¾ |
|
Flour—household |
14 lbs. |
4 |
2½ |
7 |
9¼* |
*Based on price of 3½ lb. of flour.