284 Mr. V. Brady asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will give details of the number of parliamentary questions tabled to him for the year 1991 and the total cost involved; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

The number of Parliamentary Questions answered by my Department during 1991 was 1,720.

It is not possible to give the precise cost of these. However, in response to a question on 13 February 1992 the Minister for Finance indicated that the average cost of answering a Parliamentary Question was of the order of £64.