Mr Paterson
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his question and I also thank him, on the record, for his great support in our teamwork with the devolved Ministers in bearing down on criminals in Northern Ireland. Let me reassure him that support for the ATOs—ammunition technical officers—is very much a feature of the £200 million programme that we put together two years ago.
[Official Report, 16 May 2012, Vol. 545, c. 534.]
Letter of correction from Owen Paterson:
An error has been identified in the oral answer given on 16 May 2012. The response should have reflected the fact that the work of ammunition technical officers in Northern Ireland is funded directly through the Ministry of Defence.
The correct response should have been:
Mr Paterson
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his question and I also thank him, on the record, for his great support in our teamwork with the devolved Ministers in bearing down on criminals in Northern Ireland. Let me reassure him that support for the ATOs—ammunition technical officers—is very much a feature of our approach to tackling the threat in Northern Ireland.