§ Mr. MaginnisTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what has been the total cost to his Department for each of the years 1986 to 1995 of maintaining the Maryfield secretariat in terms of(a) salaries and (b) travel and miscellaneous expenses;[24437]
(2) what has been the total cost to his Department for each year from 1986 to 1995 of maintenance costs and running cost for the Maryfield building; and what has been the contribution, in each of those years, from the Government of the Irish Republic. [24438]
§ Sir John Wheeler[holding answer 2 April 1996]: The information is as follows:
§ Mr. BeggsTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the estimated total number of beef cattle in Northern Ireland at present; and how many beef cattle there were in Northern Ireland in each year since 1986. [24210]
§ Mr. Ancram[holding answer 2 April 1996]: The information is given in the table:
Year Numbers of beef cattle at December (000) 1986 1,090 1987 1,046 1988 1,084 1989 1,123 1990 1,136 1991 1,177 1992 1,183 1993 1,224 1994 1,235 1995 1,236
§ Mr. BeggsTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how frequently animals are recorded in cow farm herd record books checked against computerised records of beef herds held by the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland. [24211]
339W
§ Mr. Ancram[holding answer 2 April 1996]: Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland computerised animal records for all herds are checked at least once a year.
§ Mr. BeggsTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the advantages of requiring animal feed manufacturers to contribute to the cost of compensating farmers where outbreaks of BSE in beef cattle in suckler herds and beef producing herds can be traced to the supply of contaminated livestock feed since 1986. [24213]
§ Mr. Ancram[holding answer 2 April 1996]: No such assessment has been made.