§ Mr. Mallonasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish in the Official Report the numbers of (a) part-time and (b) full-time members of the Ulster Defence Regiment who are actively involved in local politics.
§ Mr. StanleyIn accordance with Regulations for the Ulster Defence Regiment and Queen's Regulations for the Army, members of the permanent cadre of the UDR and of the part-time element are debarred from active involvement in politics. However, officers and soldiers of the part-time element may stand as candidates for district councils in Northern Ireland provided they have obtained the permission of the Ministry of Defence. Our records show that there are currently two members of the part-time element of the UDR who are members of district councils.
§ Mr. Mallonasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will publish in the Official Report the number of (a) officers and (b) soldiers of the part-time element of the Ulster Defence Regiment who stood in district council elections since 1980;
(2) if he will publish in the Official Report the number of (a) officers and (b) soldiers of the part-time element of the Ulster Defence Regiment who applied for permission from his Department to stand in district council elections since 1980, giving the number refused and the number granted permission.
§ Mr. StanleySince 1980 one officer and four soldiers of the part-time element of the Ulster Defence Regiment have applied for permission to stand in district council elections. Permission was granted in all cases.
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§ Mr. Mallonasked the Secretary of State for Defence what evidence he has that members of the Ulster Defence Regiment were involved in manning barricades during the Unionist day of action on 3 March 1985.
§ Mr. StanleyReports have been received alleging that a small number of off-duty personnel were present at barricades during the Unionist day of protest against the Anglo-Irish agreement on 3 March. These are being investigated by the RUC with the assistance of the military authorities. To date, no charges have been brought by the RUC, but in some cases, where it has been decided that no criminal offence has been committed, action has been taken under Service disciplinary procedures.
§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Secretary of State for Defence what information he has to the numbers of (a) part-time members and (b) full-time members of the Ulster Defence Regiment who are members of (i) the Orange Order and (ii) the Black Perceptory.
§ Mr. StanleyMembers of the UDR are not debarred from membership of either the Orange Order or the Royal Black Institution (the Black Perceptory) and there is therefore no reason to maintain records of the number of UDR soldiers who belong to these organisations.
§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the Ulster Defence Regiment have been found to he members of paramilitary groups, by paramilitary grouping, for each year since 1980, showing whether they were; (a) full-time and (b) part-time; and what action was taken.
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§ Mr. StanleyAccording to available records, since 1980 no serving member of the Ulster Defence Regiment has been convicted of membership of any organisation proscribed under the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1978.
§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish in the Official Report the number of weapons and equipment, by type, that have been stolen from the Ulster Defence Regiment in each year since its inception.
§ Mr. StanleyThe information requested is not readily available for the years before 1980. For each of the years since then, the following weapons have been stolen from members of the Ulster Defence Regiment:
Year Number 1980 1 1981 2 1982 2 1983 1 1984 2 1985 4 *1986 1 * To date. Three of these weapons have subsequently been recovered. Four were privately owned protection weapons. The remainder were Service-issued personal protection weapons.
Records for clothing stolen are not available, but there are no records of other military equipment being stolen from members of the UDR in this period.