§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Minister of Technology what he is doing to publicise the relevance to civil contractors of the diving research work done by the Royal Navy Research Centre, Alverstoke.
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§ Mr. FowlerIn collaboration with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence, who is responsible for the Royal Navy Physiological Laboratory (R.N.P.L.) at Alverstoke, and the Construction Research and Information Association (C.I.R.I.A.) a Seminar on Deep Diving Technology was held at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, in March, 1968. This Seminar was attended by representatives of firms interested in diving technology and presentations were given by scientists from R.N.P.L.
Following this, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has recently delegated to C.I.R.I.A. responsibility for the issue of the Ministry of Defence New Air Diving Tables (1968) and the control of their use. Further the Ministry of Technology have placed a contract with C.I.R.I.A. to identify amongst other things, the requirements of industry for research into diving technology. Lastly, frequent use is made by industry of the advice of scientists and the facilities available at R.N.P.L., Alverstoke.