§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Minister of State for Defence how many, and which, vessels have been stopped by Her Majesty's naval vessels since 1st November in the Irish Sea and British territorial waters, respectively, and searched for arms; how many arms were found; and how many men were arrested.
§ Lord BalnielDuring recent weeks a number of British and other vessels have been stopped and searched by H.M. ships off the Northern Irish coast as part of various operations designed to prevent the illegal smuggling of arms into Northern Ireland. It would be contrary to normal practice to give full details, but all these searches took place in the territorial waters of the United Kingdom; and on the occasions in question no arms were found and no arrests were made.