The Northern Ireland Assembly is costing £1.93 million a month to run - despite the devolved government being suspended, the Northern Secretary, Mr Paul Murphy, said last night.
He told Ulster Unionist MLA, Mr David Burnside (Antrim South), in a Commons written reply that salaries of Assembly Members, office cost allowances, travel and subsistence expenses and party allowances totalled £830,000. The other £1.1 million was being spent on "general administration", he added.
It compares with the £2.64 million monthly cost of running the Assembly when it was last fully operational before its suspension 14 months ago.
Hopes of a speedy restoration of devolution suffered a serious setback last month when Assembly elections saw the DUP and Sinn Féin sweep ahead of the Ulster Unionists and the SDLP respectively as the biggest Assembly parties.
The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, is meeting party leaders at Downing Street this week.
