Results 981-1,000 of 1,415 for speaker:Tom Kitt

Statute Law Revision Bill 2007: Report and Final Stages (3 Apr 2007)

Tom Kitt: I thank Deputy Jim O'Keeffe and his colleagues in this and the other House for their participation in the debate. It has been an enormous undertaking for the staff and is a timely reminder of the ongoing need to update our legislation and to make it user friendly, to simplify it, to modernise it, to consolidate and reform it. It has been an enjoyable experience for me, as has working with...

Schools Building Projects. (3 Apr 2007)

Tom Kitt: I thank the Deputy for raising the matter as it affords me the opportunity to outline to the House the Government's strategy for capital investment in education projects. Modernising facilities in our 3,200 primary and 750 post-primary schools is not an easy task given the legacy of decades of underinvestment in this area as well as the need to respond to emerging needs in areas of rapid...

Price Inflation. (4 Apr 2007)

Tom Kitt: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 3, inclusive, together. The Central Statistics Office, CSO, has responsibility for compiling the Irish consumer price index, CPI, and in accordance with the Statistics Act 1993 the director general of the office has sole responsibility for, and is independent in, deciding on statistical methodology. The CPI is designed to measure inflation. The CSO...

Price Inflation. (4 Apr 2007)

Tom Kitt: The point I made with regard to the negotiations on wages and a new partnership deal was that inflation is a significant consideration in negotiations and the question of the appropriateness of taking account of a measure which includes tobacco can be considered when the pay terms of Towards 2016 next come up for consideration. My comments are made in the context of discussions on wage...

Price Inflation. (4 Apr 2007)

Tom Kitt: Issues such as that raised by Deputy Rabbitte will be dealt with by agreement. The Government is trying to reduce the number of people smoking for health reasons. There is an ongoing debate on how tobacco should be treated in the methodology by which the CPI is calculated. The issue may come up for discussion by agreement. It is important to note that in 2000, tobacco accounted for 3.6%...

Price Inflation. (4 Apr 2007)

Tom Kitt: Yes, if it could be done by agreement.

Price Inflation. (4 Apr 2007)

Tom Kitt: To discuss mortgage interest rates is to depart from the subject matter. There is no question of removing mortgage interest from the consumer price index. If there had not been upward movements in energy prices and mortgage interest rates, the inflation rate would have been 2.1% rather than 4% because these two areas account for around half of the inflation rate. Unfortunately, both...

Price Inflation. (4 Apr 2007)

Tom Kitt: To put it another way, if, for example, the Minister for Health and Children wanted the price of a packet of cigarettes to increase by €1, a conflict would arise because any such change would immediately increase the consumer price index. These issues are open for discussion in the context of wage agreements.

Price Inflation. (4 Apr 2007)

Tom Kitt: The Deputy is obviously not aware that we use European and international standards. There is no question of Ireland being any different from any of the other EU member states. There are EU-harmonised indices of consumer prices. As I said, the HICP reflects all the standard items used, including energy prices and mortgage interest rates, for example, which make up a major part of our...

Price Inflation. (4 Apr 2007)

Tom Kitt: A huge element of the housing situation is built in with regard to the consumer price index.

Price Inflation. (4 Apr 2007)

Tom Kitt: The standards used are independently based. The CSO uses internationally recognised standards and is very much in line with our European colleagues. There is no official HICP sub-index that excludes tobacco, so tobacco is used in the indexes of other countries also.

Price Inflation. (4 Apr 2007)

Tom Kitt: The cost of mortgages is included.

Price Inflation. (4 Apr 2007)

Tom Kitt: All of the data can be accessed from the available statistics. Some 36 new items have been introduced while 33 have been deleted from the basket of goods and services and a further 48 items have been modified with respect to definition and coverage. The net effect is that where the previous basket of goods and services had 613 items, the new basket comprises 616 items. The main changes to...

Price Inflation. (4 Apr 2007)

Tom Kitt: ——Indian and Chinese meals——

Price Inflation. (4 Apr 2007)

Tom Kitt: There was the elimination of ladies' raincoats, streaky rashers and zips. So the bottom line——

Price Inflation. (4 Apr 2007)

Tom Kitt: People are no longer buying zips. This is up-to-date information. I have dealt with the issue of mortgage interest rates, based on the European standards. The position is the same as any other European country.

Price Inflation. (4 Apr 2007)

Tom Kitt: The answer is no. It is one of the goods consumed by the people. In weighting the goods, one must accept the realities. The main issue comes into play with regard to a new national agreement. There are also the health aspects, of which we are very conscious. My colleague, the Minister——

Price Inflation. (4 Apr 2007)

Tom Kitt: That is correct.

Price Inflation. (4 Apr 2007)

Tom Kitt: I have checked this. The only Government or departmental correspondence came from the Department of Health and Children, to which I referred earlier, on the basis of queries from the Irish Cancer Society, which was making a point in principle with regard to the inclusion of tobacco. This data is compiled based on international standards. We must accept the realities of modern living.

Price Inflation. (4 Apr 2007)

Tom Kitt: Yes. What I said earlier——