§ Mr. LansleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many press officers were employed in his Department in(a) May 1997, (b) January 1998, (c) January 1999 and (d) January 2000; and what the total expenditure on press officers by his Department was in each of the years concerned. [132769]
§ Mr. MandelsonThe Secretary of State for Northern Ireland employed the following numbers of Press Offices for the periods given. Also stated are the following
Date Visits 18 March 1999 Dublin—Meeting with an official from the Irish Department of Justice 9 April 1999 Dublin—Meeting with officials from the Irish Department of Justice 25–28 October 1999 USA: Boston—Meetings with Irish American leaders, addressed the Kennedy School and a contemporary Irish politics class at Boston College; meeting with Boston Police Commissioner New York—Meetings with the Irish Consul General, the editor of the Irish Voice, the National Committee on American Foreign Policy and the Invest in Britain Bureau; delivered a lecture at Fordham University and met legal specialists, human rights groups and Irish activists Washington—Meetings with officials in the US Department of Justice, the US State Department of Justice, the US State Department and the FBI; meeting with the Irish Ambassador and key officials at the British Embassy dealing with Northern Ireland 23 November 1999 Dublin—Meeting with officials from the Irish Department of Justice and met with Her Majesty's Ambassador to Dublin 7 March 2000 Dublin—Meeting with Her Majesty's Ambassador to Dublin and dinner with an official from the Irish Department of Justice 14 July 2000 Dublin—Meeting with officials from the Irish Department of Justice