asked the Minister for Justice whether any instructions have been issued to the Gardaí in regard to unemployed men, peacefully protesting against the failure of the Government to implement their policy of full employment, and, if so, if he will state the nature of the instructions.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Unemployment Protests.
No such instructions have been issued.
Is it not a fact that a man was arrested and jailed like a criminal for protesting against unemployment last week? He was not obstructing traffic.
That statement is not correct, as the Deputy knows.
It is correct. He was protesting against unemployment.
Allow me. The only intervention by the police in this matter was when the men refused, after closing time in the Exchange, to leave the building. From the moment that the officers of the Exchange decided to close the buildings, the men remaining became trespassers. It was then that the police intervened.
What about the man arrested at Parnell Monument and thrown into Mountjoy Prison?
I should like to know in what way do a citizen's rights differ as between a politician and an unemployed person? If it so happened that that deputation came to me on the day in question and asked me to go forth and speak in this particular gathering, would I have been arrested?
Would the Deputy please resume his seat?
I am asking a question.
Would the Deputy please resume his seat? The Deputy is not asking questions; he is making a statement. The questions he has posed do not arise from the question on the Order Paper.
In what way do our rights differ? That is a fair question.
It does not arise from the question on the Order Paper. If the Deputy wishes to find that out, he can address a question to the Minister in the ordinary way.