§ Mr. Stonehouseasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the current number of civil servants in his Department; and what was the total in equivalent sections of Departments in 1964 and the percentage increase or decrease between the two dates.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesThe Northern Ireland Office was set up as a Department of State in 1972 to take over the functions of direct rule. The Department now has 247 United Kingdom civil servants. It is not possible to make a meaningful comparison between the functions and the staff of the Northern Ireland Office today, and the corresponding situation in 1964.