asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what efforts are currently being made to control expenditure by the Northern Ireland Office so as not to consume too much of the financial resources allocated to Northern Ireland Departments in Command Paper No. 5879; Public Expenditure 1978–79.

Expenditure by the Northern Ireland Office is subject to the stringent financial control required of all Government Departments. Resources are allocated between the various expenditure programmes in Northern Ireland in accordance with the Government's judgment of priorities.