§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what are the monthly figures for the numbers of plastic bullets fired in Northern Ireland from January 1977 to November 1981.
§ Mr. PriorThe monthly figures for the number of plastic baton rounds fired operationally in Northern Ireland between January 1977 and 11 November 1981 are as follows:
†l977 †l978 †l979 †1980 1981 January 25 10 6 59 68 February 15 31 7 3 48 March 39 4 60 70 320 April 39 4 1 49 1,959 May 147 8 108 2 16,656 June 30 148 23 4 606 July 37 16 56 113 6,182 August 1,098 1,208 832 780 3,755 September 15 11 135 14 40 October 39 297 12 3 24 November 6 nil 27 nil *7 December nil 6 4 134 — † Army only. * To 11 November. The police acquired plastic baton rounds in October 1978, but it would involve disproportionate cost to identify figures for operational firings before 1981.