asked the Minister for Justice if he will state why Garda officers in the Dublin area have refused to supply information regarding serious criminal assaults to pressmen when it was manifestly in the public interest that such information should be given.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Press Information.
Mr. Boland
Members of the Garda Síochána are prohibited by regulation from communicating to the Press any information in connection with matters which come to their knowledge in the course of their duty unless authorised to do so by the commissioner. I cannot accept the implication in the Deputy's question that the public interest requires that police information concerning criminal assaults, other than such information as may be given in the course of court proceedings, should necessarily be disclosed to the Press. On the contrary, I think that the publication of such information might often be harmful.