§ 4. Mr. BrazierTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps are being taken to improve the personal security of part-time members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the Royal Irish Regiment.
§ The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Sir John Wheeler)Measures to safeguard the personal security of police officers and soldiers in Northern Ireland are in place and kept under constant review. It is not in the public interest to discuss specific items or cases.
§ Mr. BrazierYes, indeed; but on this day, when another soldier has been killed in Ulster, I put it to my right hon. Friend that part-time soldiers, policemen and their families suffer the greatest risks of all. The attrition that they have suffered is the main cause for the sharp and continuing decline in their numbers.
Is not the best way to improve their security and that of everyone in Ulster to get the terrorists behind bars? To that end—as with the criminal justice legislation—there must be ways of ensuring, through disclosure and other measures, that a higher proportion of terrorist prosecutions in Ulster results in such men going behind bars at the end of trial.
§ Sir John WheelerI am grateful to my hon. Friend. He referred to the tragic killing today of a young soldier in Northern Ireland. I know that the whole House will wish to extend its sympathy to the family of that young man. My hon. Friend is right to say that the care of those who volunteer to serve in the Royal Ulster Constabulary reserve and the Royal Irish Regiment as part-time soldiers is very important. We owe them a great debt.
The fact that so many people in the part-time Royal Irish Regiment are able to make themselves available for duty every third day is a great credit to them and their families. I can assure my hon. Friend that every care is taken of them. I visited the Royal Irish Regiment yesterday and saw the arrangements for the care of those part-time soldiers and their families. I am pleased to tell the House that it is of the highest order. The point that my hon. Friend makes about reviewing the law is a matter that the Government have under constant review.
§ Rev. William McCreaAlthough I join the hon. Member for Canterbury (Mr. Brazier) in offering sympathy to the family of the young soldier, it is important that the safety and security of my constituents along the border should also be of the highest order. Has the Minister 1152 received any communication about the fact that, at 4 o'clock last Saturday, on the Kilcleen border in United Kingdom territory, a constituent of mine, who is a member of the security forces, was stopped and questioned by the Garda Siochana and asked for details concerning his comings and goings?
My constituent told the officer that he was not answerable to the Garda when in the United Kingdom. When my constituent told him that it is not a united Ireland yet, the officer said, "It is near enough." That situation is despicable in the United Kingdom. It is totally unacceptable and is putting fear in my constituents. Unfortunately, although the House condemned the soldier's death today, there will be someone from the Government speaking to the murderers tomorrow.
§ Sir John WheelerI have no knowledge of the incident to which the hon. Gentleman refers. I take note of what he says and, if he gives me further details, I will have the matter investigated. I can tell the House that co-operation between the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the Garda Siochana has never been greater.