To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 2 June 2006, Official Report, column 100W, of the Minister of State (sustainable farming and foods), if he will estimate the proportion of the time that Lord Rooker has devoted to official duties that he has spent on the affairs of his Department. (79226)

Lord Rooker works full-time on Defra affairs. His other responsibilities, as Northern Ireland spokesman and Deputy Leader of the House of Lords, are undertaken on top of his departmental duties when he is in the House of Lords.