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8 Jan 2007 : Column 329W—continued
Public Opinion Research
Dr. Cable: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much her Department has spent on commissioning public opinion research in each of the last five years. [105447]
Vera Baird: The information requested is not held centrally, and to collect it for five years would present a disproportionate cost. However, the information for the financial years 2004-05 and 2005-06 is as follows.
The DCA spent approximately £1,339,000 (VAT inclusive) on public opinion research contracts during 2005-06, and £1,344,000 in 2004-05.
Northern Ireland
Collusion Allegations
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of allegations of collusion between the RUC and Loyalist paramilitaries in bombings at (a) Dundalk in 1975 and (b) Castleblayney in 1976. [110208]
Mr. Hain: The Government have consistently made clear that they take any allegations of collusion very seriously, is committed to seeing that the truth emerges in all cases, that wrongdoers are punished and that we fully understand the Irish Government’s position on this. It is the Government’s position that criminal investigations led by the police generally represent the best way of achieving this.
Compensation Payments
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was paid by the Northern Ireland Compensation Agency to people who had been convicted of paramilitary activity in 2005-06; and to whom awards were made. [108174]
Mr. Hanson: I have asked the Chief Executive of the Compensation Agency to reply to the hon. Member directly and to place a copy of his letter in the Library.
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was paid in compensation payments by his Department in 2005-06; and what the reason was for each payment. [108203]
Mr. Hain: The information in the table refers to all compensation payments made by the Northern Ireland Office (NIO), excluding its Agencies and non-departmental public bodies, in the financial year 2005-06.
| Amount of damages paid out by NIO (£) | Date compensation was awarded |
As there were only two cases during 2005-06, the reason for payment is suppressed on grounds of confidentiality, as it would make the individuals receiving the payment identifiable.
Consultation Exercises
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many consultation exercises have been undertaken by each Department in the Northern Ireland Office in the last (a) six months and (b) 12 months; and what the cost was of the exercises; [109071]
(2) how much has been allocated for consultation exercises by each Department in the Northern Ireland Office in 2006-07. [109072]
Mr. Hain: From December 2005 to December 2006 the Northern Ireland Office carried out 25 consultation exercises. From June 2006 to December 2006 the Northern Ireland Office completed 19 consultation exercises. In general specific budgets are not allocated to consultation exercises as the costs are absorbed into the cost of the policy implementation or administrative spending. However divisions have identified wherever possible costs allocated for any larger consultation exercises planned for 2006-07.
The following table shows each consultation exercise undertaken by the Northern Ireland Office from December 2005 to December 2006 highlighting the
responsible Department, the costs involved and where available the amount allocated for consultations in 2006-07.
Departmental Staff
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many staff were employed on a consultancy basis in (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies in each of the last five years for which information is available; and what the (i) average and (ii) longest period was for which a consultant was employed in each year. [102970]
Mr. Hain: The following table shows how many staff were employed on a consultancy basis in the Northern Ireland Office and each of its agencies for each of the last five years. Information for the period 2001-02 and 2002-03 is limited as it is no longer available to all Branches.
In some cases there was no information held on the number of consultants employed. When the information was not available we recorded the number of consultancy companies employed in the table as follows.
| Department/Agency | Staff employed | Consultancy companies employed | |
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