andMr. Bruton asked the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Energy why, between May 1977 and May 1978, the categories in the consumer price index on clothing and footwear services and related expenditure rose by twice the average rate of increases.
Written Answers. - Consumer Price Index.
72.
During the period in question, imported items, principally of UK origin, accounted for a major percentage of the consumption of clothing and footwear. The increase in the consumer price index in respect of these categories is to a great extent a reflection of the increased cost of these imported items.
With regard to the services and related expenditure category of the CPI I would refer the Deputies to a relevant section in the Monthly Report of the National Prices Commission for March 1978 where the matter of the rate of inflation in this sector is considered. The commission pointed out that the index for services would appear to have inflated at more or less the same rate as the overall CPI since 1969, with divergences in some years that were subsequently evened out. The commission indicated that, while the services sector of the CPI had been out of line with the overall rate of inflation since May 1977, this is due in part to the steep decline in overall inflation and they suggested that the slowness of the services sector to react might only be a time-lag effect, as apparently happened in previous years. The Commission intend to continue their monitoring of this sector to see how the pattern continues.