Vol. 540 No. 1
124 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Taoiseach if he will give details of the annual increases in the cost of transport, housing rents, health insurance and child care in each of the past four years as measured in the consumer price index; and the weighting in the household budget for the purpose of calculating the overall trend in consumer prices in each case. [19539/01]
The information requested by the Deputy is set out in the following table. The weights used in the construction of the consumer price index have a reference period of November 1996, based on the 1994-95 Household Budget Survey.
Table 1 Annual Average Increases for Selected Categories
|
Nov. 1996 base expenditureweight % |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
Year to May 2001 |
|
|
Transport |
13.94 |
+2.9% |
+1.5% |
+2.8% |
+8.3% |
+3.0% |
|
Housing Rents |
1.75 |
+2.6% |
+5.4% |
+6.4% |
+10.9% |
+15.5% |
|
Health Insurance |
1.26 |
+7.6% |
+9.0% |
+9.2% |
+6.8% |
+4.9% |
|
Childcare |
0.55 |
* |
+8.4% |
+11.9% |
+21.8% |
+9.9% |
