§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reason figures are not available for the perceived religious and community origin of serving members of the Royal Irish Regiment General Service Batallion. [20323]
§ Dr. Reid[holding answer 16 December 1997]Under the terms of the Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) Acts 1976 and 1989, my Department is required to monitor the religious/community background of employees wholly or mainly employed in Northern Ireland. The General Service soldiers of the Royal Irish Regiment are not wholly or mainly employed in Northern Ireland and are not subject to the Act. There is therefore no requirement to monitor the religious/community background of this or any other General Service Battalion and the information requested is not monitored centrally in Northern Ireland. However, my Department estimate that the perceived religious/community origin of the General Service Battalion is broadly 70–75 per cent. Protestant and just over 20 per cent. Roman Catholic.
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will approximate to district council constituencies the field of operations of each battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment Home Service. [20325]
§ Dr. Reid[holding answer 16 December 1997]In broad terms, the information requested is set out below:
- 3rd Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment: Craigavon, Lisburn, Banbridge
- 4th Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment: Fermanagh
- 5th Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment: Magherafelt, Limavady, Coleraine, Moyle, Ballymoney
- 7th Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment: Belfast, North Down, Castlereagh
- 8th Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment: Armagh
- 9th Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment: Lisburn, Antrim.
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence in the last month for which figures are available how many Royal Irish Regiment patrols were(a) accompanied by the RUC and (b) unaccompanied. [20287]
218W
§ Dr. Reid[holding answer 16 December 1997]The information requested for the period of 10 November to 8 December 1997 (inclusive) is set out as follows:
Battalion Number of patrols accompanied by RUC Number of patrols unaccompanied by RUC 3rd Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment 58 38 4th Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment 230 0 5th Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment 11 13 7th Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment 0 0 8th Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment 175 58 9th Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment 50 0 A patrol is defined as any foot or mobile patrol in support of the RUC, regardless of size or duration. Patrols conducted by the Army for local security around bases are not included.