Ulster Unionist MLA Tom Elliott has questioned how much decommissioning of IRA weapons was actually carried out.

Mr Elliott said: “During recent months and years we have become aware of a significant amount of republican terrorist weaponry being seized by the Police on both sides of the border and being used in terrorist attacks.

“I have been aware that the bullets used in the murders of Stephen Carroll and David Black were described by some security sources as being ‘old stock’. This is a way of saying that these came from Provisional IRA stock piles, all of which we had been assured were ‘decommissioned’ or put ‘beyond use.’

“In more recent times other terrorist devices have been uncovered and I call on the security services to tell us if these are also old stock from PIRA supplies. The RPG 7 rocket discovered in Belfast last week was one such item. I very much hope that the PSNI will soon be in a position to give us more information about where they believe that this weaponry came from.’

“Last night we saw four mortars discovered in Londonderry. Thankfully due to the good work of the Police and Army, lives have been saved. Today I challenge people from the Provisional IRA, some of whom may now be in Sinn Fein, to bring forward the information that is required to help the security services stop such actions.’

“Some of those people know exactly where these munitions and explosives are, or at least where they were when they were put ‘beyond use’. They need to assist the Police in ascertaining just where this old weaponry now in the hands of so-called dissidents is coming from and ensure this flow is stopped.'

“The people who carried out last night`s criminal acts are the enemies of all the people of Northern Ireland. They offer no hope and no future and all they did was put the lives of the innocent people of Londonderry at risk last night with their reckless actions.’

Shame on those who are carrying out these acts now, and shame on those who carried them out in the past.”