asked the Minister for Social Welfare the estimated effect upon the living standards of social welfare recipients, such as widows and orphans, old age pensioners and those who are ill or unemployed, when the Government's proposal to abolish the subsidies on essential food items is put into effect.

It is the Government's expressed intention to ensure that social welfare payments will be raised in line with increases in the cost of living. If at any time the level of subsidy on essential foodstuffs were altered, this undertaking would ensure that social welfare recipients would be protected.

Is it the Government's policy to increase them in line with the CPI or in line with the food element in the CPI? Food represents a higher proportion of their budget for people in this category than for people in other categories.

Any changes in the subsidy levels would be compensated for.

The CPI rate is at 8.2 per cent over 12 months up to the middle of August. The biggest item of increase in that rate was for food, which was 10 per cent. The Government should raise the level of social welfare payments in line with the food element in the index and not total index, which embraces drink, mortgages, tobacco and so on.

I will keep that suggestion in mind.

Has the Minister any idea of the proportion of social welfare payments spent on food? We are told that the proportion of income spent on food within the EEC ranges from 18 per cent to 30 per cent in the poorer sections.

I could give the Deputy a figure but it is not immediately available. If the Deputy puts down a question I will give him that information.