asked the Minister for Defence if he will state in relation to a report (details supplied) concerning the Army's Churchill tanks: (a) if the report was accurate and, if so, the reason action was taken; and (b) the number of Churchill tanks still in existence and the condition of each; if he will give, in the interests of preservation, an undertaking that such items will be examined by a military analyst before their destruction is allowed to take place; if examples of this type of vehicle will be retained for military museum purposes; and if any vehicles have been or will be made available to the Ulster Folk Museum.

An old Churchill tank which had been located on my Department's lands at Leitrim, Glen of Imaal, close to the public road, was buried because it attracted young persons to enter the lands which are a source of danger. The Department have one other Churchill tank which is unserviceable. It is located in a military museum at the Curragh Camp.