165 Mr. Connolly asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the number of parliamentary questions replied to by his Department in 2006; the cost involved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3239/07]

My Department responded to 2,197 parliamentary questions during 2006. An essential everyday part of the work of staff in the Department is serving the needs of this House and the democratic process. Work related to Parliamentary Questions is an essential element of this process built into the Business plans of individual Divisions of the Department.

In addition, input into individual questions varies depending on the complexity of the issue raised and the level of expertise required to service it. Because it is part of the ongoing workload of civil servants, and because staff resources are not exclusively deployed to deal with questions, it is not possible to isolate the cost of answering Parliamentary Questions from overall administration costs.