Vol. 436 No. 7
191 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade the total number of representations received by his Department since the formation of the Government from Members of the Oireachtas and the general public, respectively; and the cost of dealing with these representations.
My Department does not record, as a matter of course, general statistics of this nature. It is considered neither appropriate nor efficient to do so. I do not believe that the cost involved in compiling, at this stage, the information requested by the Deputy would be justified.
192 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications the total number of representations received by his Department since the formation of the Government from Members of the Oireachtas and the general public, respectively; and the cost of dealing with these representations.
My Department does not record, as a matter of course, general statistics of this nature. It is considered neither appropriate nor efficient to do so. I do not believe that the cost involved in compiling, at this stage, the information requested by the Deputy would be justified.
193 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Equality and Law Reform the total number of representations received by his Department since the formation of the Government from Members of the Oireachtas and the general public respectively; and the cost of dealing with these representations.
Since 1 July 1993, correspondence, including representations on various issues, coming through my office is recorded on a register. It would be difficult to trace representations addressed to me before that date. It is not practical to maintain a central register of all the correspondence and representations dealt with by my Department on a regular, routine basis.
It would be a very time-consuming and costly exercise, therefore, to try to extract the required information which, in the circumstances outlined above, could not be justified.
