To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost to his Department was of the provision of office facilities to (a) special advisers and (b) press officers in the 2008-09 financial year. (302967)

Northern Ireland Office (NIO) special advisers and press officers are located alongside other NIO staff in a number of buildings. Rent, rates and utilities, etc., are charged on the basis of the entire building, and the cost of specific areas of the building or accommodation for groups or individuals within the building could not be separated from the overall running costs of the entire building.