§ Mr. McCuskerasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what are the boundaries of the three new Royal Ulster Constabulary areas recently announced.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesFor operational purposes Northern Ireland has been divided into three areas, each comprising a number of police divisions under an assistant chief constable. The three areas are:
- (1)A northern area comprising the police divisions which cover Londonderry city and county and North Antrim.
- (2)A southern area comprising the police divisions embracing Counties Down, Armagh, Fermanagh and Tyrone.
- (3)A Greater Belfast area comprising Belfast and the police division South Antrim.
§ Mr. McCuskerasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the new Royal Ulster Constabulary Cadet Scheme indicating how many new recruits have recently enrolled.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesThe new non-residential cadet scheme for the RUC is intended to supplement the existing residential scheme based on the Metropolitan Police College with a view to increasing the flow of recruits to the force. Cadet training is designed to capture the interest of young men who have not obtained the minimum age for joining and who might otherwise be lost to the police. At present 150 applications for one or other of the schemes are being processed. It is too soon to say how many will be enrolled into each scheme.
§ Mr. McCuskerasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the number of Royal Ulster Constabulary personnel stationed in the city of Londonderry on 31st December 1973 and 30th April 1974 and the anticipated strength at the end of 1974.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesIt would not be in the interests of security to disclose the strength of the RUC in any given area.