Paul McGrath (Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 286: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs 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. [16440/06]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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As the Department of Foreign Affairs provides desk top internet access to all staff at Headquarters, staff have access to any non-subscription Irish national daily newspaper that is available on-line. As the Deputy will be aware, the degree to which Irish daily newspapers are available on-line varies from publication to publication with some titles providing full text on-line while others are only partially available.

In providing daily newspapers to staff, the Department operates a "circulation list" system, that requires, in many cases, officers to forward newspapers that have been read to the next officer on the "list". Table 1 in Annex A shows, for each Irish national daily newspaper that the Department understands to be available on-line, a breakdown of the newspapers purchased each day at HQ and how these are distributed among staff in the first instance. The table also indicates the total number of staff that subsequently have access to the newspaper through the "circulation list" system.

49 staff receive, in the first instance, more than one Irish daily that is also available (even partially) on-line. However, as indicated above, many of these newspapers are subsequently circulated to other officers.

The cost in 2005 for the provision of Irish daily newspapers at Headquarters is set out in Table 2 in Annex A. It should also be noted that the Department also purchases a number of UK and other international daily newspapers. However, in the time available, it is not possible to provide a breakdown of all of the Department's expenditure on daily newspapers by title.

The Deputy should also note that Irish Missions abroad obtain both local and Irish newspapers.