Vol. 510 No. 4
86 Mr. Power asked the Minister for Defence if he will bring forward the timescale for the purchase of armoured personnel carriers in view of the serious shortage of this equipment in the Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22895/99]
As stated in response to a parliamentary question last month, I was pleased to announce that I had authorised the opening of negotiations between my Department and Mowag of Switzerland in regard to the completion of a contract for the supply of armoured personnel carriers to the Defence Forces. This followed the completion of the technical assessment of two vehicles selected by the Department to compete in the second stage of the competition which had been in progress since last year. Those negotiations are continuing with the purpose of defining the final technical specification to meet the Department's requirements and to establish the financial and other aspects of the proposed contract.
Subject to the successful completion of these negotiations, I expect that a contract will be concluded shortly and that the first vehicles will be delivered to the Defence Forces towards the end of next year.
The possibility of accelerating production to achieve full delivery of the remainder of the vehicles as early as possible will be explored in negotiations with the supplier.
