asked the Minister for Justice if he will state the number of prisoners who have been released following on the Government's declaration of an amnesty; the number of prisoners whose cases have been reviewed and in which decisions have been reached; the total number of prisoners who would be entitled to have their sentences reviewed under this declaration, and if steps will be taken to expedite the proceeding so that these prisoners may be released before Christmas.
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. ORAL ANSWERS. - RELEASE OF PRISONERS.
On the 28th August last there were 861 male prisoners in custody exclusive of 48 persons then detained under the Public Safety (Powers of Arrest and Detention) Act, 1924. 630 of these were sentenced and 231 were on remand or awaiting trial. Of the 861, 269 had been released from custody in the ordinary course by the 22nd November. There then remained 592. Of these 592, there were 475 where either the offence was committed outside the period 6th December, 1921, to 12th May, 1923, or where the nature of the offence and the known character of the prisoner were such as to make it reasonably clear that no question of any special mitigation could arise. There were, therefore, on that date, 117 cases which had to be examined in detail before any careful decision could be taken as to whether there were cases amongst them coming within the spirit of the Executive Council's resolution. This involved a considerable amount of work. It was decided as a first step to make an effort to pick out the cases of least doubt for immediate action and to follow up with a more detailed examination. As a result of the first step, 6 prisoners had the unexpired portion of their sentence remitted on the 26th November; and proceedings were discontinued in 7 cases in respect of thirteen offences. That left 104 cases to be examined. The analysis of these cases will be completed before Christmas. I understand that the vast majority of them could not by any standard be regarded as anything but cases of ordinary crime. If there are any remaining cases which might be said to come within the spirit of the Executive Council's resolution, I believe that the number will not exceed 20, and a final decision will be taken before Christmas.
Can the Minister say what is the position of the untried prisoners in Mountjoy at present? Is there any chance of their being released before Christmas?
Does the Deputy refer to prisoners detained under the Public Safety Act, or prisoners on remand?
Mr. BYRNE
Untried prisoners detained under the Public Safety Act.
As to prisoners detained under the Public Safety Act, no question can arise in regard to them in connection with the resolution of the Executive Council. There are no persons detained under the Public Safety Act for offences which could, by any stretch of the imagination, be termed political offences. The cases of persons so detained are reviewed, as a matter of fact, automatically from month to month, and there is a tendency and a willingness to release such persons whenever the conditions in their area renders that course possible, or when they are willing to enter into recognisances to keep the peace with their neighbours in future.
Mr. BYRNE
I would like to give the Minister a case to which my attention was drawn this morning.
I am prepared to look into any specific case amongst those persons.