The British Government faces a £100 million sterling bill for new security measures following the suspected IRA spy plot at Stormont, it was claimed today.
Ulster Unionist Assembly member Mr Michael McGimpsey demanded Northern Ireland Office chiefs sack civil servants who allowed thousands of top-secret papers to be stolen.
The alleged espionage ring inside former Secretary of State Dr John Reid's offices in Belfast led to the collapse of the power-sharing Assembly when it was uncovered last October.
But Mr McGimpsey insisted the inefficiency of those in charge of security at Stormont must not be ignored.
Mr McGimpsey claimed NIO sources had disclosed the huge costs of new security arrangements.
"To date the bill for putting new procedures in place and relocating prison officers and other potentially at-risk personnel is around £25 million and rising with estimates now coming in at a total of £100 million," he said.
Four people, including Sinn Fein's administration chief Mr Denis Donaldson and a former messenger at the NIO, were arrested and charged after police raided the party's Stormont offices and homes in west Belfast.
Huge bundles of papers, computers and other software were seized during the anti-IRA spy operation that left incensed unionists declaring they could not sit in a devolved administration with republicans.
With the details of more than 1,400 prison officers found among the files, the British government was also forced to help warders quit their homes or step up their personal security.
Mr McGimpsey added: "The fact that the NIO has now seen fit to introduce new measures to protect national security is a damning indictment of its previous failure in this most sensitive area".
PA