Aengus Ó Snodaigh
Ceist:57 Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Defence his views and the evidence he has reviewed on the question of whether to issue less lethal weapons to the Defence Forces. [28805/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraWednesday, 17 November 2004
Ceisteanna (18)
Freagraí ó Béal (9 píosaí cainte)
The issue of less lethal weapons for use by the Defence Forces was previously raised by, the Deputy in a parliamentary question on 19 October 2004. As I informed the Deputy in my reply to that question, the introduction of less lethal weapons for use by the Defence Forces in the course of aid to their civil power duties is the subject of ongoing consideration in my Department. The issue remains under consideration and no decision has yet been made.
As I previously explained to the Deputy, the consideration of the use of a limited less lethal capacity by the Defence Forces follows the proposal of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, noted by Government in November 2002, to authorise the introduction of a limited range of less lethal weapons for use by the Garda emergency response unit where this is necessary to avoid the use of firearms. The less lethal weapons for use by the emergency response unit are the bean bag shot, a pepper spray device and a ferret pepper spray shot. Any decision to introduce less lethal weapons for use by the Defence Forces acting in aid to the civil power will be on the basis that the capabilities of the Defence Forces in this area will not exceed those of the Garda emergency response unit. Should a decision be taken to provide the Defence Forces with less lethal weapons, the lead will be taken from the Garda Síochána. We will provide the Defence Forces with the same weapons and they will deploy them only when acting in aid to the civil power in the same limited situations that the Garda intends to use them.
The Defence Forces have recently conducted evaluation tests on 40 mm bean bag ammunition. I await receipt of the evaluation report when a decision will be made on whether to proceed with the purchase of a small amount of such ammunition with which the Defence Forces can provide a graduated response acting in aid to the civil power while adhering to the principle of absolute minimum force at all times.
The Minister should be aware that the use of less lethal weapons on this island by military forces acting as a so-called aid to the civil power is a very controversial and emotive issue. Their use has resulted in the deaths of 17 Irish people in the Six Counties, eight of whom were children. There have been many more serious injuries and deaths throughout the world due to these weapons. As we know, these weapons are open to abuse. Last month, an unarmed female sports fan was killed by police in Boston, using so-called less lethal pepper spray, a weapon that the Garda have been authorised to use and which is being looked at by the Department of Defence. The PSNI have regularly used this same CS type spray in attacking nationalists in Derry in recent months.
In deciding to consider the introduction of these weapons for use by the Defence Forces against the Irish population, the Minister potentially has a major human rights issue on his hands. Has he consulted the human rights commission on this issue? Has he looked at the research compiled by the Pat Finucane Centre or the Committee on the Administration of Justice regarding the experience of people in the Six Counties at the receiving end of these weapons? Will he talk to those who have been injured and the relatives of those who have been killed? What human rights training and protocols for the use of these weapons is the Minister considering? The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has so far refused to publish the guidelines for their use. I hope the Minister for Defence will take the bold step to publish the guidelines if he makes the decision to purchase these.
I would have thought that this was a step in the direction of protecting human rights rather than the opposite. We are taking our lead from the emergency response unit of the Garda Síochána. Only lethal weapons such as guns and ammunition are currently available to the emergency response unit. We are trying to provide non-lethal weapons to replace those.
They are lethal weapons.
I will take my chances of being hit by one of those things rather than by live ammunition. Maybe the Deputy has more experience in these matters than I have. That is my information.
I doubt it. The Minister plays with guns every week.
When the Defence Forces are acting in aid of the Garda in maintaining order, we need a graduated response. At one level, we can give them batons and at the other level we can give them guns and live ammunition. There is a huge gap between the two methods of maintaining order. We are trying to find something in the middle. We are in the process of evaluating some of this material at the moment. To what extent it has the capacity to kill or seriously injure people will be considered. In any case, the Defence Forces will not go down this road unless the Garda lead, because the Defence Forces will only use these weapons in aid of the civil power, which is the Garda Síochána.
If a range of new weaponry is introduced for people who are sent out to maintain order, they have to be trained properly in the use of those weapons. They will be properly trained. I am not aware of the dialogue on publishing guidelines between the Deputy and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. I will talk to my people in the Department of Defence on publishing the guidelines. Unless there is something of which I am not aware, I do not have any objection to publishing guidelines in these matters. People are being trained to use certain weapons that I hope are non-lethal, in aid of the civil power. How we train them is certainly a matter of public interest and I readily concede that.
Will the Minister publish the list of weapons the Defence Forces are investigating and the findings on whether they are acceptable or not? Other jurisdictions have done so.
I will do that.