HC Deb 09 April 1974 vol 872 cc79-80W
11. Mr. Hardy

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will provide a campaign medal to recognise substantial service in Northern Ireland.

Mr. William Rodgers

Service in Northern Ireland is recognised by the award of the General Service Medal and Clasp (Northern Ireland).

29. Sir Nigel Fisher

asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will arrange, in the next review of the pay of the Armed Forces, for consideration to be given to paying special rates to those serving in Northern Ireland, in view of the danger and unsocial hours involved.

Mr. William Rodgers

Service pay structure already takes account of the danger inherent in Service life, but the current review of Service pay is taking place against the background of stage 3 of the Pay Code and all that that involves.

31. Mr. Kilfedder

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the weapons which have been found or captured in Northern Ireland by the security forces, their place of manufacture and any new weapons now being used by the IRA in Northern Ireland.

Mr. Mason

Over 4,000 firearms have been seized in Northern Ireland since January 1970 and it would be impracticable to list them all. This number includes weapons that appear to have been manufactured in: Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Finland, France, West Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, USA and USSR. As the hon. Gentleman knows, the place of manufacture is not necessarily the place where they have been obtained.

Weapons seized and believed to have come into IRA hands recently are the Russian-designed SKS carbine, the German Landmann rifle and the US version of the Armalite rifle.

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