169 Mr. Connolly asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs 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. [3240/07]

A total of 1,337 parliamentary questions were replied to by my Department in 2006. As no record is kept of the time taken by Departmental officials in formulating draft replies, it is not possible to indicate the total cost involved in replying to these questions.