HC Deb 03 November 1998 vol 318 cc443-4W
Mr. McNamara

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the locations of British Army surveillance towers in Northern Ireland in (i) September 1994 and (ii) October 1998; and what plans he has to remove further towers from use in the next six months. [56394]

Unit Strength Length of tour
The 1st Battalion The Scots Guards 569 2 years—until March 2000
The 1st Battalion The Royal Welch Fusiliers 566 2 years—until August 2000
The 2nd Battalion The Light Infantry 623 2 years—until March 1999
The 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers 605 2 years—until May 1999
The 1st Battalion The Queen's Lancashire Regiment 606 2 years—until December 1999
The 1st Battalion The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's)1 609 2 years—until March 1999
42 Commando Royal Marines 577 6 months—until March 1999
The 1st Battalion The Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales) 552 6 months—until November 1998
The 12th Regiment Royal Artillery 403 6 months—until October 1998
The 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Wales—Prince of Wales Division 545 6 months—until December 1998
The 39th Regiment Royal Artillery2 277 6 months—until January 1999
The 1st Battalion The Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons) (Scottish Division) 510 6 months—until December 1998
1The 1st Battalion The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and the 39th Regiment Royal Artillery, respectively the Province Reserve Battalion and me Urban Reinforcement Battalion, are fully committed to Northern Ireland, although only one company of each was deployed in the Province at 30 September 1998. The 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Wales, the Rural Reinforcement Battalion, is also fully committed to Northern Ireland but was not deployed in the Province at that time.

Note:

Figures as at 30 september 1998

In addition, there are 6 Home Service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment, totalling 4,431 soldiers, comprising both full-time and part-time members, which are wholly committed to service in Northern Ireland. The security situation is kept under constant review and the level of Army support to the Royal Ulster Constabulary adjusted accordingly in line with their requirements. However, it is the Department's policy not to disclose details of future deployments to the Province.

Mr. McNamara

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the overall strength in September 1998 of British military forces in Northern Ireland broken down into numbers attached to the (i) Army, (ii) RAF, (iii) Royal Navy, (iv) RIR Home Service full-time and (v) RIR Home Service part-time. [56396]

Mr. George Robertson

The information requested is set out in the table:

Mr. George Robertson

In September 1994 there were surveillance towers at 10 hilltop sites in the South Armagh area, 2 towers in Londonderry and 3 surveillance posts mounted on blocks of flats within Belfast, in October 1998 there were the same number of sites in South Armagh and Belfast, but only one in Londonderry, the other having been closed in 1995. In addition to surveillance towers, the security forces maintain a number of other structures which are used for a variety of observation purposes.

The security situation is kept under constant review and the configuration of the military infrastructure adjusted accordingly. However, there are no plans to withdraw any of the towers from use over the next 6 months.