asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how often the H-blocks of the Maze prison in Northern Ireland are cleaned out at present; how many people are employed to do this job; and what is the cost of employing people to do this job.

[pursuant to his reply, 13 May 1980]: I assume that the question relates to the cells at Her Majesty's prison Maze fouled by prisoners engaged on the so-called " dirty protest ". Each of these cells is steam-cleaned by prison staff on average every eight to 10 days. The cleaning operation is carried out by three teams of four staff. The total additional cost was approximately £17,000 in the last financial year.