Vol. 527 No. 3
339 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of persons who have been arrested under the Offences against the State Act, 1939, since 1 January 2000 who have not subsequently been charged with the offence in respect of which they were arrested. [28583/00]
I am advised by the Garda authorities that 673 persons were arrested under the provisions of the Offences Against the State Act during the period 1 January 2000 to 15 November 2000.
Statistics regarding the number of persons who were not subsequently charged with the offence in respect of which they were arrested are not readily available and would have to be compiled specially at the cost of a disproportionate amount of Garda resources. There is also the consideration that, in several instances, investigation files are currently being prepared or are under consideration by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
