§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on what date he received the request from the Irish Government for the loan of two water cannon vehicles used by the Gardai for dispersing antiglobalisation protestors on 1 May 2004; what the duration of the loan was; how many Police Service of Northern Ireland and other personnel(a) accompanied the vehicles and (b) were involved in their operation; what the cost was of the loan arrangement; and what charge has been levied upon the Irish authorities. [174535]
§ Mr. PearsonI am advised that on 23 March 2004 the Police Service of Northern Ireland received a written request from the Commissioner of An Garda Siochana to provide two water cannon vehicles for the period 18 April to 4 May inclusive. This was to facilitate the training of Garda officers to work in the use of water cannon and cover the period of potential protests from 1 to 3 May. The request was made direct from one police service to another and not from the Irish Government. A service level agreement was drawn up between the two services to cover this arrangement.
I am given to understand that no PSNI officers accompanied the vehicles to the Republic of Ireland nor were PSNI officers involved in their operation in Dublin. On this occasion no charge was levied for the provision of the vehicles in the spirit of joint co-operation between An Garda Siochana and PSNI, as set out in chapter 18 of the report of the Independent Commission on policing in Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what requests for loans of water cannon vehicles have been received from the Irish authorities for days during(a) June and (b) July. [174536]
§ Mr. PearsonI have been advised that PSNI has received no requests from either An Garda Siochana or the Irish Government for the provision of PSNI water cannon during June or July 2004.
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what training in the use of water cannons has been provided for non-UK personnel; how many persons were trained over what period; what the cost was of training provided; and what charge has been levied upon the beneficiary states. [174537]
§ Mr. PearsonThe Police Service of Northern Ireland has advised me that the service provided water cannon training for 21 non United Kingdom personnel. Eighteen officers from An Garda Siochana were trained in the operation of water cannons over a period of six days and three Senior Officers received training in command and control issues relating to the deployment and use of water cannon. No charge was levied for this training on the basis of furthering co-operation with other police services, as recommended in the report of the Independent Commission on policing in Northern Ireland.
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§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what reports have been received from the Irish authorities concerning the effectiveness and safety of water cannon weaponry on loan from the Police Service of Northern Ireland for the period covering 1 May; what weight of water was discharged; and whether any persons were injured by the use of this equipment. [174538]
§ Mr. PearsonI have been advised by PSNI that they have not received any written reports concerning the use of water cannon on this occasion. PSNI would therefore not have specific information such as the weight of water used or whether there were injuries resulting from the use of water cannon. However, they have indicated that An Garda Siochana contacts have advised that the water cannons were judged to be an effective tactical option.