Paul McGrath (Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 265: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if his Department makes the Irish national daily newspapers available on-line for staff within his Department; the number of staff at each grade who each day receive a copy of one Irish daily newspaper which is also available on-line; the number of staff who each day receive a copy of more than one newspaper which is also available on-line; the cost in 2005 of purchases of each printed daily newspaper in his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16439/06]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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My Department subscribes to on-line access to one daily newspaper for staff. The remaining daily newspapers are not made available on-line.

The Department provides a printed copy of the newspaper, to which we subscribe on-line, to 33 staff members of the Department at senior management level. The table outlines the relevant grade breakdown.

The cost of daily newspapers is met from budget allocation, which also includes the costs of relevant sectoral, technical, professional and financial publications, magazines, periodicals, local publications and other printed matter of relevance to the Department's broad remit. In the time available it is not possible to extrapolate relevant individual costs for each newspaper published on a daily basis within the State. However, based on examination of the relevant account, the costs of providing all printed Irish daily newspapers to officials of my Department was circa €21,700 in 2005.