§ Milk Bottles
§ Mr. Speller asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if, in view of the frequent use of milk bottles for explosive devices, he will estimate the cost of converting the supply of milk in Northern Ireland from bottle to cartons and make the necessary financial provision.
§ Mr. Adam Butler:The cost of replacing milk bottling facilities with the additional cartoning equipment which would be necessary would be about £3¼ million. Cartons are more expensive to use than bottles and the additional cost of using cartons for all milk sold in Northern Ireland would be approximately £3 million per annum. Bearing in mind that glass containers other than milk bottles can be used for petrol bombs, I do not believe that this expenditure could be justified.