asked the Minister for Justice if he will make a statement on press reports regarding the public allegation by a person (details supplied) concerning the condition of a young person from the Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown constituency who was brought to the Four Courts four months ago in an alleged condition in Garda custody in answer to a writ of habeas corpus.
Written Answers. - Young Person's Allegation.
47.
The allegation referred to in the question is one which was made last weekend at the Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis by Mr. A. Browne, Senior Counsel, and widely publicised.
Mr. Browne has since been interviewed by the Garda and has given the name of the person to whom he was referring. The person in question is awaiting trial on serious criminal charges and it is clear that an allegation of ill-treatment may become an issue in the trial. I am therefore precluded from making any statement concerning the allegation.
It is however possible, and I think appropriate, to give the House certain facts that are relevant to the statements made by Mr. Browne at the weekend.
The habeas corpus action to which Mr. Browne publicly referred related to the detention of the man concerned under section 30 of the Offences against the State Act, 1939 and it was Mr. Browne himself who represented the Garda in that case. Acting on behalf of the Garda, Mr. Browne informed the High Court that the Garda were not objecting to a grant of habeas corpus but that the man concerned, who at that stage had not been charged, would be rearrested as soon as he had left the precincts of the court and charged with a criminal offence.
It is apparent therefore that Mr. Browne was in a special position to know, when making his public remarks at the weekend, that there was in fact pending a criminal trial in which the issue of the alleged ill-treatment was liable to arise. Added point is given to this by the fact that his reference to habeas corpus proceedings and to the area from which the man came was tantamount to identifying the case publicly—even though, as I say, the Garda subsequently, as a precaution, verified the identification from him. Moreover, although a period of some ten months has elapsed since the matter complained of arose, Mr. Browne at no stage made any complaint to me or, according to my information, to the Garda authorities. I would have thought he might have done so if only because of his own participation on behalf of the Garda in the habeas corpus proceedings and his knowledge that the man was about to be taken into Garda custody again.