Noel Ahern
Ceist:842 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands the procedure, system and resources used in her Department for replying to correspondence from Members of the Oireachtas; the staff numbers involved; if the numbers have been reduced since freedom of information requests were introduced; if staff were diverted to freedom of infor mation cases; if a tracking or follow up system exists; if there is a rule or guideline for sending replies other than acknowledgements; the standard in this regard; the way in which it is monitored; her views on whether responding to requests from Oireachtas Members is an integral part of the democratic system; and if she has any proposals to improve this service. [20053/00]
