asked the Minister for Justice if he will make a statement on the reported discovery of a large quantity of explosives in Newry, part of which quantity was alleged to have been manufactured in the State.
Private Notice Question: - Reported Explosives Discovery.
All the facts concerning the incident referred to in the question which, as Deputies are aware occurred outside the State, are not yet available to the Garda Síochána who understand that considerable investigation in Northern Ireland may be necessary before an adequate picture can be built up. Accordingly it is not possible for them to know at this stage the extent to which there may be implications for consideration here.
In the meantime of course the Garda Síochána are carrying out various investigations with regard to aspects of the matter that may be in their area of responsibility.
In view of the grave public disquiet at these happenings, could the Minister assure the House that when he has the full facts available to him he will make a comprehensive statement?
I shall be pleased to give to the House whatever information is available to me, subject of course to the overriding consideration that it may not be possible to disclose some information for security reasons.
Can the Minister say if explosives which are manufactured within the State are identifiable and if they can be traced back to an identifiable source as a result of coding and markings on the product?
The Deputy is asking me for details which I would prefer not to give for security reasons.
With all due respect to the Minister, surely he is aware that what I am asking has already been raised in the public Press and that people are genuinely interested in whether or not this is so.
There has been speculation in the public Press on this matter, but I would not like to confirm or deny what the position is in regard the marking or non-marking of explosives. I consider that these are security matters which it would not be in the best interests of the State to reveal publicly.
Can the Minister say whether or not the explosives manufactured in the State can be readily traced back to an identifiable source because of the markings and codings on them?
It is not possible to answer that question without revealing the further details which I think it is not prudent to reveal.
Could the Minister say whether the vast bulk of the explosives which are alleged to have been found was ammonium nitrate, a substance not manufactured within the State?
The information to hand so far indicates that.
Could I ask the Minister whether the vast proportion of this allegedly huge haul was common, commercial and easily available foreign fertiliser?
The information I have so far indicates that the vast bulk of this haul was not common fertiliser but a distillation made from common fertiliser.
The only picture I saw of this was clearly identifiable as NET, 26 per cent ammonium nitrate.
It is possible that the sacks in which it was found were the sacks in which the original fertiliser had been stored.
I should like to ask the Minister if he will comment on reports that these explosives were loaded on the particular tanker in which they were found in County Louth and if he would further say whether or not this allegedly loaded tanker from County Louth got through Irish customs and Garda patrols on the Border.
I cannot comment because, as I said in my first reply to the Deputy, it is not possible for the guards to know at this stage the extent to which there may be implications for consideration by them. The various newspaper reports have been seen, but various matters have to be confirmed before I could make any definitive statement on the location of the loadings.
Is the Minister saying that he has no information from the Garda Síochána that these explosives were loaded on the tanker within the State?
I am not saying that.