Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senator Norris for raising this matter this evening. It gives me the opportunity, on behalf of the Minister for Defence, Deputy O'Dea, to outline the position to the House. The Minister has asked me to apologise to the House for his unavailability to address it.

The position concerning the acquisition of defensive equipment for the Defence Forces is that, in the main, such equipment is procured from abroad, as it is not possible to procure such equipment internally in Ireland. The Department of Defence maintains an open door policy with its acquisition of defensive equipment.