asked the Taoiseach whether his attention has been drawn to the Press report of a statement made in England by a Mrs. Van der Elst to the effect that she had been campaigning in this country against the infliction of capital punishment and had got reprieves for two persons sentenced to death here; whether this latter statement has any foundation in fact and, if so, whether he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Capital Punishment.
I have seen the Press report referred to by the Deputy. When deciding whether or not to advise the President to commute sentences in capital cases, the Government have acted solely on their considered judgment of all the relevant facts and circumstances of each individual case. No representations by Mrs. Van der Elst in any such case were, in fact, conveyed to the Government, either directly or indirectly, and no views that that lady may have expressed had any influence whatever on the Government's decisions.
The mischief misfired.
Arising out of the Taoiseach's reply, is it not a fact that when the two cases to which I have referred were under consideration by the Government, or immediately prior to the two cases to which I have referred coming under review by the Government, the Minister for External Affairs, at a public meeting, expressed a view in relation to capital punishment which, in the eyes of the public, must undoubtedly have prejudiced the consideration of these cases?
That is a separate question.
That does not arise out of the question.
Arising out of the reply, may I ask the Taoiseach if he is aware that, when her attention was drawn to this matter, Mrs. Van der Elst denied that she made the statement attributed to her?
I am not, but I do know that I had never heard of the lady until Deputy MacEntee put down the question.
Arising out of the Taoiseach's supplementary reply, may I ask did the Minister for External Affairs ever hear of her?
It had nothing whatever to do with the decision of the Government.
May, I say that I took the chair, as I have done on repeated occasions, at a debate of the Technical Students' Society? The subject of the debate was "Capital Punishment."