Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

253. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the costs to his Department to process and respond to a priority, oral and written parliamentary question. [16596/14]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The processing of individual Parliamentary Questions is undertaken as part of the normal day to day work of individual sections within Departments and no staff in my Department are assigned full time to dealing with Parliamentary Questions. 

Parliamentary Questions are dealt with, as the need arises, by the staff in the sections dealing with the particular issue(s) raised in individual Parliamentary Questions.   The number and level of staff and the time spent on an individual answer depends on the complexity and importance of the issue raised the form in which the information exists in the Department and the form of the proposed response, i.e. whether oral or written.

The cost of answering a Parliamentary Question and indeed the time taken to answer all questions will vary considerably according to the nature of the question asked. This would inevitably result in significant differences in the costs among and across Departments.  

My Department recently reviewed procedures and has greatly improved the administration and time involved in responding to Parliamentary Questions with the introduction of an e-PQ System.   Since the establishment of my own Department in 2011, and to date in 2014,  I have responded to 5,078 Parliamentary Questions.