The Independent Monitoring Commission, IMC, was established following an agreement between the Governments of Ireland and of the United Kingdom done at Dublin on 25 November 2003. The costs of the commission are shared equally by the British and Irish Governments.
For practical purposes, the full costs of the IMC are met by the Northern Ireland Office. The Northern Ireland Office then forwards a set of accounts and an invoice to my Department to recoup half of the costs.
The cost of the IMC for the first three months of 2006 will not be available until after 31 March. The costs of the IMC from its establishment to 31 December 2005 is STG£1,005,515.07.