Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I always do. From January 2008 to October of this year, the consumer price index, CPI, rose by 3%. One might think that the cost of living has only risen marginally in that period but that would be a mistake; the CPI is not a cost of living index. This has been forcefully stated by the CSO for years but the message does not seem to have penetrated the minds of Government officials. The CPI, as its name indicates, is a price index. The goods and services in its fixed basket are not those driving up the cost of living for people who are struggling. The main problem is the rise in rents. The Tánaiste says that the rate of increase is diminishing; well, that must be all right, then. That rise is not distributed evenly across the country. CSO statistics from the RTB confirm rises in urban rents of well over 20% and of over 40% in some cases compared to 2008.

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