asked the Minister for Defence when the testing programme on the Timoney APC will be completed, and when the vehicles will be handed over to operational units, when he will be in a position to say that the vehicles have been successfully tested, if he will give details of the types of tests carried out by the Army to date, and the difficulties encountered with vehicles which delayed the programme to date.

It is not possible to indicate at this stage when these tests will be completed. The vehicles will be issued for operational use after testing has been concluded. The types of tests carried out include the following:

Fording, floating and water sealing

Road driving

Cross country driving

Machine Gun and Turret operation

Radio and inter-communication systems

As the contract has not yet been completed, it would be contrary to established practice to give details of the problems encountered.

At the end of the testing, will more vehicles be ordered?

There is an order for five vehicles. A number of them have been tested and accepted by the Army. I told the Deputy previously that there were problems in relation to these carriers and until these have been ironed out the contract will not be completed.

26.