For the purposes of this reply, non-civil or public service staff is taken to refer to advisers, personal assistants and personal secretaries attached to my ministerial office.
I refer the Deputy to my reply to Question No. 27 on Wednesday, 27 November 1996. The costs for 1988 and 1995 are covered in that reply.
The 1996 cost of the special adviser, personal assitant and personal secretary was approximately £79,000. The estimated cost for these staff in 1997 is in the region of £80,000.
The cost of the staff of the research unit — three full-time, two part-time — attached to my office in 1996 was approximately £85,000. The estimated cost of research unit staff in 1997 is in the region of £76,000.
The cost of personal ministerial staff in 1990 was approximately £51,000.
Records for 1980 indicate that there were no non-civil service or other such staff employed in the Department during that year.