THE Northern Ireland Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, has said that compensation is "a question that will clearly arise" following the admission by Britain's Ministry of Defence that more than 90,000 plastic bullets issued to the security forces in Northern Ireland were faulty.
"The MoD have got some hard questions to answer historically. As to compensation, that is a question that will clearly arise and we look forward to dealing with it," she told reporters after the multi-party talks at Stormont.
The Defence Procurement Minister, Lord Gilbert, disclosed yesterday that about a third of a batch of 284,500 plastic baton rounds issued to the RUC and British army from early 1994 had a velocity of 72-76 metres per second instead of the regulation 70 metres per second (156 miles per hour).
It is understood that the "vast majority" of the 8,500 plastic bullets fired in Northern Ireland last year, particularly at the time of the Drumcree standoff in July, would have come from the faulty batch.
According to official sources, about 100 people have been injured by plastic bullets during the last three years. A Ministry of Defence official said it was unlikely the defect in the bullets would have had "a significant effect on the incidence of serious injuries".
NIO sources indicated they did not expect to see a sudden rise in compensation claims because they would be difficult to prove. There are currently three claims outstanding against the MoD.
Asked to comment on the issue, Dr Mowlam said: "I regret what's happened because it will cause distress and worry in the community and I also regret that the RUC have used plastic baton rounds when they didn't know they weren't fitting specifications."
She said the previous government had "seemingly failed" to put the discovery of the defective bullets into the public domain. "We put this in the public domain as soon as we found out."
Although the MoD refused to name the manufacturer of the bullets, for fear of terrorist reprisals, officials indicated that the company may be prosecuted if it can be proved the problem was its fault. The faulty batch contained 284,500 rounds, manufactured between November 1993 and June 1994. But the MoD only discovered the defects during "development work" on the bullets in 1995.
Initially, MoD officials believed 10 per cent of the batch was faulty, but further tests revealed about a third of the baton rounds were defective. The same manufacturer has now been instructed to lower the velocity. "Our requirement now is 55 to 70 metres per second, with the emphasis on the lower speed. .. The bullets are broadly meant to equate to being struck with a police baton," said one MoD source.
Most plastic bullets are used for training purposes, rather than in operational situations, hence the large numbers ordered.
The SDLP's Mr Mark Durkan said: "We believe that there are more problems with the plastic bullets than Lord Gilbert's reply would tend to suggest."