§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the total cost of the arrangements made to protect converted terrorist witnesses prior to the trial of persons charged on the basis of their evidence to date; and what are the total sums which have been spent, committed or are planned to be spent for the purposes of resettling, protecting and remunerating converted terrorist witnesses following the outcome of trials at which they provide evidence.
§ Mr. PriorSo far as the period before trial is concerned, I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. and learned Friend's reply of 4 November 1983.—[Vol. 47, c. 472–73.] That reply indicated the scale of direct costs in particular cases: information on indirect costs—for example, in relation to police man-hours spent on protection duties—is not accounted for separately. As to the period after trial, I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 16 November 1983.—[Vol. 48, c. 451–52.]