I move amendment No. 5b :
In page 15, before section 24, to insert a new section as follows :
" The Court shall provide that the sums specified in any order made under the provisions of this Act, shall be appropriately increased each year, in accordance with the increase, if any, in the Consumer Price Index ".
The amendment is very simple but an extremely important one. We believe that if agreements are to be fair and equitable in regard to present day circumstances they must have provision built into the agreement in the nature of an escalator clause which would provide for increases in payments to keep pace with the cost of living. Otherwise, these agreements will be outdated in a very short time with inflation at its present rate. A person in receipt of £40 per week in 1975 would find that the value of the income would have diminished considerably in 1978.