The first report on the large scale national Household Budget Survey (HBS) conducted by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) during 1973 was published earlier this month. It is, therefore, particularly opportune to have been invited by the Society to read a paper tonight on the HBS. At the outset I will briefly trace the historical development of these surveys and discuss some of the interesting methodological features of the 1973 national inquiry. After a brief look at the published results of the 1973 results I will examine the changes in Irish expenditure patterns over time and make comparisons with the results of a similar inquiry in the UK. I will then illustrate some important uses of the 1973 results by examining special categories of households (e.g., pensioner, family units), by considering the updating of Consumer Price Index (CPI) weights and by providing preliminary estimates of expenditure elasticities. I conclude by summarising the current position of the HBS and its future development.

Read before the Society, 20 May 1976