Troop carriers and nuclear suits among 9,500 items disposed of by Defence Forces in a year

The Defence Forces said the list, which covered October 2021 until September last year, was particularly long because the work of its boards of survey had been heavily restricted before then by the Covid-19 pandemic. File picture: Kieran Clancy

The Defence Forces wrote off more than 9,500 individual items of equipment in the space of a year as damaged beyond use, uneconomical to repair, lost, or no longer of use.

The enormous inventory included dozens of old military trucks and troop carriers, a prisoner transport vehicle, inflatable life rafts, parts for old weapons, and knives with the logo of the Defence Forces.

Other items written off included stab jackets, imitation handguns, tactical radio systems, and remote observation devices.

The Defence Forces said the list, which covered October 2021 until September last year, was particularly long because the work of its boards of survey had been heavily restricted before then by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Old nuclear, biological, and chemical suits (NBCs) of various sizes were deemed surplus to requirements with dozens of such items written off as no longer useful.

Also logged were medications, which had presumably passed their expiry date. This included steroid tablets, painkillers, antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, and antifungal food powder.

A variety of old equipment including grasscutters, hoovers, refrigerators, and microwaves, were also considered past their useful life.

Inactive ambulances were written off as well with six Ford Transit Voyager 111s included in the log along with 13 large all-terrain Iveco trucks and troop-carrying Mercedes vehicles.

They were among dozens of vehicles considered no longer of use with minibuses, motorcycles, and tractors all included in the inventory along with thousands of items of spare parts for the end-of-life vehicles.

Furniture was also written off including desks, cabinets, bedside lockers, wardrobes, sofas, and executive chairs. There was a considerable amount of exercise equipment deemed past its sell-by date, which included a treadmill, punchbags, medicine balls, kettlebells, and spinning bicycles.

Testing kits for anthrax and botulism were also included in the inventory of items, which was provided under FOI.

A statement from the Defence Forces said: “As the Covid restrictions began to lift in 2022, the Boards recommenced their inspections, resulting in an increase in items damaged beyond use, deemed uneconomical to repair, or no longer of use by the Defence Forces.”