HC Deb 12 July 1990 vol 176 cc335-6W
Mr. George

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the total expenditure on deploying British service personnel in Northern Ireland for each year between 1969 and 1989; and what this expenditure was as a percentage of the total defence budget during the same period.

Mr. Archie Hamilton

It is not possible to make a precise estimate of the total expenditure on maintaining forces in Northern Ireland as no detailed records are maintained for this particular purpose. However, since financial year 1981–82 we have undertaken an annual costing of the resources required to fulfil those tasks which relate directly to the emergency. The information is as follows:

Financial Year Extra costs at outturn prices £ million Extra costs as percentage of the Defence Budget
1981–82 149 1.2
1982–83 143 1.0
1983–84 141 0.9
1984–85 121 0.7
1985–86 135 0.8
1986–87 144 0.8
1987–88 168 0.9
1988–89 225 1.1
1989–90 201 1.0

Mr. George

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish the number of British service personnel deployed in Northern Ireland at 31 December, for each year between 1969 and 1989.

Mr. Archie Hamilton

The numbers of British service personnel deployed in Northern Ireland in each year from 1969 to 1989 are as follows:

Regular Forces Total RN/RM Army RAF UDR
1969 4,902 515 2,926 1,461 —
1970 8,816 259 7,245 1,312 3,326
1971 11,100 128 10,410 562 4,151
1972 15,323 1,661 12,949 713 6,741
1973 18,382 302 17,250 830 9,098
1974 16,991 266 15,827 898 7,816
1975 15,732 287 14,564 881 7,676
1976 15,627 302 14,454 871 7,793
1977 15,427 221 14,262 944 7,616
1978 15,287 198 14,159 930 7,812
1979 13,704 143 12,727 834 7,761
1980 13,389 797 11,970 622 7,425
1981 12,143 124 11,114 905 7,431
1982 11,799 118 10,885 796 7,350
1983 11,357 135 10,375 847 7,026
1984 10,260 131 9,294 835 6,929
1985 10,222 162 9,180 880 6,468
1986 10,090 184 8,912 994 6,508
1987 11,158 191 9,920 1,047 6,535
1988 10,887 163 9,645 1,079 6,364
1989 10,975 139 9,695 1,141 6,312
1990 10,977 234 9,578 1,165 6,208

The manpower numbers in the table are for 1 January, except for 1969, 1970 and 1971 which are as at 1 July. Recruitment to the UDR was authorised to commence on 1 January 1970.