To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their latest estimate of (a) the current cost per month; and (b) the total cost to the taxpayer of the Bloody Sunday inquiry. [HL637]

The average cost per month of the inquiry between April 2008 and December 2009 is approximately £373,000.

The total cost of the Bloody Sunday inquiry to December 2009 is £186 million. The inquiry's most recent estimate of the final cost is £190 million. This incorporates a reduction of approximately 20 per cent of the inquiry's remaining budget, due to a number of additional measures which have been agreed with the inquiry to minimise the remaining costs.