Mr. Patrick Mulley:

We are now prohibited by law to respond as an aid to the civil power but legislation is being examined to allow us to respond as an aid to the civil authority. When the Criminal Law (Jurisdiction) Act 1976 was enacted, we were allowed to mobilise and were mobilised throughout the 1970s at the Border and other places. The amendment in 2007 was a retrograde step and unnecessary as there is no cognitive difference between an RDF person and a PDF person.

In regard to the training and the type of training, let us examine the historical side of it. In 1972, in the region of 274 people were performing full-time security duties and that lasted over two and half years. As we said in the 1999 report, we have not changed, our cognitive abilities have not changed and our volunteerism has not changed. We could provide services to the State through the PDF and augment them at a vastly reduced rate. With regard to the Chairman's question, there is no reasonable explanation for the impediment.