§ Mr. SteelTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on how his Department calculates agricultural research and development funding; and how such calculations are made in other European Community countries.
§ Mr. Donald ThompsonThe figures given by my Department in the annual review of Government-funded R and D are composed of the payments made to external contractors and the full costs of in-house research and development calculated to include salaries, superannuation, national insurance, materials, equipment, accommodation and other overheads. I understand that figures on central Government funding provided to the statistical office of the European Communities by other member states are on a comparable basis.