asked the Minister for Justice whether he will make arrangements whereby prisoners charged with treasonable and political offences and in whose cases a jury disagrees will be tried again before a second or third jury at the same court sitting, and whether he will see that the practice of discharging prisoners where three separate juries have disagreed be carried out in such cases.
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. ORAL ANSWERS. - RE-TRIAL OF PRISONERS.
I cannot undertake to make any arrangements whereby, as a matter of course, any particular class of person returned for trial will, in the event of the jury disagreeing at the first trial, be put on trial again before another jury at the same sitting of the court; neither can I guarantee the formulation of the practice suggested by the Deputy in the latter part of his question. All these matters must be considered in the light of public interest, and in the light of the attempts made by persons awaiting trial or their friends to tamper with juries.
I would like to ask the Minister if the practice of keeping prisoners in prison for extended periods awaiting trial does not amount to imprisonment without conviction, and whether the Minister will be honest enough and use the Public Safety Act for that purpose.
The Deputy should know that there is no delay in bringing these prisoners to trial. If prisoners are brought to trial and if the jury disagrees they have to stand over and take their turn again.