Mr. Maurice Quinn:

There are a number of aspects to be considered. When we sell a major platform - for example, during the years we have sold helicopters and so on - the parts are included. Parts are only valuable to us if they are in the aircraft. The parts were held in an inventory at the original purchase price; some of them were 20 years old. They are not a normal part of the inventory in the commercial sense which is turned over in the course of a year. It was very important for us to have these parts. Many of them were second hand, while some were new.

It would be fairly normal practice to include the spares. Additionally, there was no guarantee of any market abroad for those from Ireland. There was no certification with them that that was where they came from. Every single nut and bolt in an aircraft must be certified either by a military or civil authority, depending on where the aircraft is. There was none of that. This was a block of parts in the Air Corps. Unfortunately, they had that original cost but they were redundant and have no value to us. It was a question of moving those on as quickly as possible.