Mr. John D. TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which political parties have office facilities in the Stormont estate; what is the budgeted cost for these facilities; to what extent officers of those parties may work for the Government of the Republic of Ireland; and if he will list those bodies contributing to the cost. [15194]
§ Mr. AncramConferencing facilities at Castle buildings have been made available to all of the relevant Northern Ireland parties and the Irish Government, solely for the purposes of the preparatory talks process. To date only four parties—the Alliance party, the Workers party, the Progressive Unionist party and the Ulster Democratic party—have availed themselves of the facilities, although other parties have attended meetings in the building.
The accommodation is part of the existing Government estate. The additional costs incurred in providing conferencing facilities average approximately £1,900 per month. The staff costs incurred in January were approximately £1,500. From 1 February 1996 staff costs are expected to amount to a total of approximately £4,000 per month.
These costs are being met entirely by my Department as appropriate expenditure in the search for a comprehensive political settlement.