Vol. 496 No. 4
54 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Defence if the Government has dumped ammunition at sea in the past; if so, if a record has been kept of this dumping; if it is normal practice for international armies to keep record of this dumping; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22960/98]
In the period from 1970 to 1994 some 1,360 tons approximately of obsolete ammunition was disposed of at sea in the Beaufort Dyke and the North Atlantic. The material consisted of small arms ammunition, bombs, depth charges, fuses, primers, shells, grenades, pyrotechnics etc. Under the Dumping at Sea Act, 1996, such dumping is no longer permitted. My Department is not aware of the practice adopted by other armies in relation to the holding of records on the dumping of ammunition at sea.
