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Departmental Expenditure

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list his Department's total expenditure by month in each financial year since 1997–98. [32792]

Dr. John Reid: Details of my Department's, including its agencies, total gross expenditure by month in each financial year since 1997–98:

£
1997–98(29)1,012,450,000
1998–99
April55,894.107
May64,395,682
June93,772,629
July92,608,368
August76,573,205
September81,194,294
October74,110,636
November82,771,176
December79,652,458
January80,805,693
February79,482,183
March124,729,274
Total985,989,705
1999–2000
April49,516,855
May93,721,010
June100,974,430
July81,889,640
August78,134,679
September80,617,464
October74,467,946
November82,728,769
December86,010,979
January74,319,563
February95,166,969
March146,783,865
Total1,044,332,169
2000–01
April58,102,920
May79,050,965
June66,382,783
July84,767,165
August70,880,829
September63,154,414
October(30)226,044,615
November65,891,921
December81,588,559
January109,426,975
February80,303,727
March(31)214,022,763
Total1,199,617,636
2001–02
April119,824,120
May97,830,738
June93,147,672
July102,700,197
August80,643,315
September93,488,332
October90,034,565
November93,312,082
December85,091,525
January(32)140,674,727
February(32)99,674,727
March(32)99,674,727
Total(33)1,196,096,727

(29) In total—unable to provide monthly breakdown for this financial year.

(30) Includes greater than £100 million for prison redundancy costs.

(31) Includes greater than £100 for police redundancy costs.

(32) Estimate.

(33) Estimate only-exact figures not known until end of financial year.


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President of the Irish Republic

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) official and (b) working visits have been carried out in Northern Ireland by the President of the Irish Republic in each year since 1990. [35306]

Dr. John Reid: Since 1990 the President of the Irish Republic has visited Northern Ireland on 75 occasions. None of the visits was classified as official visits: all were either working or private, although a number included an element of both. A breakdown of those visits by calendar year is shown in the table.

Visits to Northern Ireland by the President of the Irish Republic:
1990–2001

Number of visits
19902
19910
19923
19931
19943
19953
19965
19973
19988
199916
200017
200114
Total75

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Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the costs to the public were of each visit to Northern Ireland by the President of the Irish Republic in each year since 1997. [35333]

Dr. John Reid: Apart from the usual security requirements, any costs arising from visits to Northern Ireland by the President of the Irish Republic since 1997 were borne by the organisation visited.

Police Vehicles

Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many armour-protected police vehicles have been taken out of service in the past 12 months. [30416]

Jane Kennedy: The Chief Constable advises me that no armour protected police vehicles have been taken out of service in the last 12 months.

Section 42 Certificates

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to his answer of 12 November 2001, Official Report, column 516W, how many section 42 certificates have been issued in each year since 1976; what further consideration he has given the terms of the Devlin judgment; and how many cases involving section 42 certificates are being considered by a fair employment tribunal. [29810]

Jane Kennedy: The information pertaining to section 42 certificates is not recorded centrally but a check of our records shows that 43 certificates have been issued, in respect of 39 individuals, under section 42 of the Fair Employment (NI) Act 1976. The following table gives a breakdown by year.

YearNumber of certificates
19771
19783
19802
19814
19821
19831
1984(34)6
19852
19861
19872
19887
19891
19903
19914
19934
1994(34)1

(34) Of the certificates issued in 1984 and 1994, four were reissues.


No further certificates have been issued since 1994.

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Following further consideration of the implications of the Devlin judgment, it has been decided not to seek a reference of this case to the Grand Chamber of the Court in Strasbourg.

We are aware of seven outstanding section 42 cases before a fair employment tribunal, five of which we believe are being handled by the devolved Administration in Northern Ireland.

Police Service Recruitment

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost was of the first and second recruitment competitions for the PSNI; and how many recruits were taken on. [29812]

Jane Kennedy: The recruitment agent is contracted to run two recruitment competitions, with the costs spread across both competitions. It is not therefore possible to quantify the costs as appointments are still being made from the qualifying pool in competition one, and the section process for competition two is not expected to be completed before the end of April. Around 300 recruits from the first competition will be appointed on a 50:50 basis.

Heads of State (Visits)

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland who decides whether a visit by a foreign head of state to Northern Ireland is categorised as (a) official, (b) private and (c) working; and what criteria are applied in each case. [35307]

Dr. John Reid: When a visiting head of state is invited by Her Majesty's Government, the visit is described as a guest of Government or official visit. Working or private visits take place on the initiative of the visitor or at the invitation of third parties.

Industrial Action

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many days have been lost owing to industrial action by staff in his Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies in each of the last four years. [36184]

Dr. John Reid: None.

Union Duties

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many staff in his Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies receive paid leave to undertake union duties; how many days they are allocated; and what has been the cost to public funds in each of the last four years. [36204]

Dr. John Reid: The figures are as follows:




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