asked the Minister for Justice the number of cases in each of the past ten years in which suspects have been arrested and held under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act, 1939, in respect of (a) subversive crimes and (b) non-subversive crimes; and if any guidelines have been issued to the Garda Síochána as to the use of this power in non-subversive cases.
Written Answers. - Offences Against the State, Act, 1939.
54.
The Offences Against the State Act, 1939, does not draw a distinction between what the Deputy refers to as "subversive" and "non-subversive" crimes and the Supreme Court has rejected the proposition that a scheduled offence under that Act must be shown to be a "subversive" offence as distinct from an "ordinary" offence before the power of arrest given by section 30 can be exercised in relation to that offence.
A distinction between "subversive" and "non-subversive" crimes cannot always be readily made in practice, either. The Garda authorities have informed me that it is not always possible to say at the time of an arrest whether a suspected offence may have subversive connections. They have also informed me that, as and when necessary, instructions have issued to the force to take account of decisions handed down by the courts on the operation of section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act, 1939.
The numbers of persons arrested under section 30 from 1979 to 1988 are as follows: 1979, 1,431; 1980, 1,874; 1981, 2,303; 1982, 2,308; 1983, 2,334; 1984, 2,216; 1985, 1,834; 1986, 2,387; 1987, 2,854; 1988, 1,938.