asked the Taoiseach if he will state the present purchasing value of the pound sterling as compared with 1906.

No official series of price index numbers are available on the basis of which it would be possible to compare the present purchasing power of the pound in this country with its purchasing power in 1906. However, using various sets of unofficial index numbers of retail, wholesale and agricultural prices, it is estimated roughly that £1 at present would purchase the same quantum of goods as 5/- in 1906.