§ Mr. LivingstoneTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a table showing his Department's expenditure headings with the amount spent in each year from 1979 to the current date.
§ Mr. Ian Stewart[holding answer 15 December 1988]: Information is only available in a consistent format for the years 1982–83 to 1988–89 and can be found in Cm 288-II table 18.1. The figures for the years 1979–80 to 1981–82 are not strictly comparable with those for the more recent years. Figures for 1981–82 are shown in Cm 56-II table 3.18, for 1980–81 in Cm 9702-II table 3.18, and for 1979–80 in Cm 9428-II table 3.17. It should be noted, however, that a major restructuring of the programmes of Northern Ireland Departments took place prior to the 1987 public expenditure White Paper and as a result it is not possible 306W to provide meaningful information for the individual programmes of Northern Ireland Departments prior to 1981–82. In addition, no figures are available for national agriculture and fishery support prior to 1981–82 and therefore the totals for 1979–80 and 1980–81 for Northern Ireland Departments, Northern Ireland block and Northern Ireland programme exclude this element.