Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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543. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the average costs associated with processing and answering written and oral parliamentary questions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49118/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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The time and effort involved answering Parliamentary Questions can vary considerably according to the nature of the question asked. No staff in my Department are assigned full time to dealing with Parliamentary Questions. The number and level of staff, and the time spent on individual replies, depends on the complexity and urgency of the issues raised, the ease of access to the required information, and the degree of cross-Divisional co-ordination required in preparing the reply.

I have responded to 1,674 Parliamentary Questions to date for 2017. Undoubtedly, a considerable amount of time is spent answering these questions. However, it is not possible to quantify the cost for the reasons outlined above.