asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the list of appointed public bodies given in annex 5 to Discussion Paper No. 3 on Northern Ireland is a comprehensive list; and what was the criterion for the inclusion of statutory and non-statutory bodies in this list.

A list was prepared for the purpose of illustrating the very wide range and cumulative importance of public bodies as a part of the overall machinery of government. It is not an exhaustive list of the full range of statutory and non-statutory bodies; such a list would be extremely extensive. It does, I hope, give useful information about those bodies which attract the widest public interest.