Vol. 538 No. 3
79 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the progress made on curtailing or stopping the use of plastic baton rounds in Northern Ireland over the past 20 years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16987/01]
119 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of people killed or injured by plastic baton rounds in Northern Ireland over the past 20 years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16989/01]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 79 and 119 together.
The Government has on a number of occasions expressed its concerns about the deaths and serious injuries which have resulted from the use of PBRs in Northern Ireland. Since their introduction in 1973, 14 people have been killed by PBRs and many hundreds have been injured. Prior to that, three people died as a result of rubber bullets. We have consistently urged the need for stricter controls and maximum restraint to curtail the use of these bullets to the greatest possible extent.
The Patten Report acknowledged the concerns about PBRs and, although it did not recommend an outright ban at that stage, the report did express a desire to "see the use of PBRs discontinued as soon as possible". Patten made a number of recommendations about their deployment and use and also specifically recommended that "an immediate and substantial investment be made in a research programme to find an acceptable, effective and less potentially lethal alternative to the PBR". The British Government accepted these recommendations and initiated the research project in July 2000. We want to see a speedy conclusion of this project.
Against this background, concerns have been expressed about the introduction of a new and potentially more lethal PBR from 1 June. In April, the Taoiseach said that "the Government have grave reservations about the proposed introduction of a new form of plastic bullet, which can be even more lethal to certain vulnerable parts of the body like the head".
The clear spirit of the Good Friday Agreement and the Patten Report is that PBRs should be phased out, not renewed or replaced in a different format. Our very serious concerns about the new PBR have been raised with the British authorities through the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference. We welcome, however, the measures introduced since August 1999 by the British Government to limit the use of plastic bullets, including by restricting their deployment to a reduced number of specially trained and authorised officers.
I should note that there has been a relatively low incidence of PBR usage in Northern Ireland over the past year and a half: more than 6,000 were used in 1996 contrasting with a figure of 26 in 2000 and nine so far this year. It is vital that this trend continues and that the use of PBRs be kept to the absolute minimum in the coming months, with a view to eliminating their use entirely as quickly as possible.
