asked the Minister for Justice if he will state the number of citizens detained under the Offences Against the State Acts in the week ended 14th May, their names, the nature of the offences, the prison sentences, if any, and the expected date of release in each case.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Offences Against the State Acts.
34.
This question relates to the week ending on Saturday 14th May. I should like to place on record that I received notice of it on the preceding Tuesday, 10th May, at a time when the Deputy could not have known whether there would be any arrests during the week.
As to the terms of the question, the Deputy would need to clarify it before any attempt could be made to provide a full answer. In doing this, he would need to bear in mind that there is no provision in the Offences Against the State Act, 1939, for anything called "detention": presumably the Deputy means either arrest, or prosecution, or conviction but I have no way of knowing which. However, I can say that the number of persons serving a sentence of imprisonment under the Offences Against the State Act, 1939, at present is one. This conviction arose in respect of the unlawful possession of incriminating documents.
Is the Minister implying that I had advance information when I submitted the question on 4th May?
I do not know what the Deputy wants.