Feargal Quinn (Independent)

We are very proud of that success but an effort is being made to ensure it continues. Recently, I was fortunate to be involved in a number of international meetings. People from around the world collared me and asked how we did it, how we succeeded, what caused the success and if there were any threats to it. I was happy to talk about that success but I was also willing to say that there was a threat. There is, as I call it, an elephant in the room which we are not discussing in this country. I have a problem when we change figures to suit ourselves. I recently suggested removing tobacco from the consumer price index because it discourages the Government from putting more tax on tobacco. I was, therefore, willing to fiddle with the figures but that is exactly what has happened.

In his speech, the Minister of State, Deputy Parlon, said "The annual rate of consumer price index, CPI, inflation was 3.9% in October". Where did we get the lower figure? It comes from the HICP.