Vol. 491 No. 7
5 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Defence further to Parliamentary Question No. 24 of 22 April 1998, the reason the surgical swabs referred to have never been issued to FCA personnel in the Southern Command; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13045/98]
Peltor passive ear muffs from a centralised pool held by the unit are issued to all FCA personnel carrying out range practices. When exchanging ear muffs members of the FCA are recommended to use peltor clean paper pads. These are thin paper pads which are adhesively attached to the surface of the ear muff in contact with the ear. Their purpose is for hygiene only and does not affect the attenuation of noise or protection which the ear muff gives. Some 1,000 pads were issued to the Southern Command in 1997, of which 390 were issued to FCA units.
It is my intention to provide FCA personnel with individual sets of ear muffs as soon as practicable.
