§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much the police in Northern Ireland paid to informers in the last year for which figures are available; how many informers received payments; and what the average payment made was. [17806]
§ Jane KennedyThe police service of Northern Ireland does not comment on matters relating to the number of covert human intelligence sources as defined under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. However, I can say that a total of £176,580 was paid out for information received during the period 1 January 2000 to 1 January 2001.