§ MR. BAGWELLsaid, he wished to ask the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Whether, considering the present tranquil state of Ireland, he conceives it necessary to keep prisoners arrested under the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act any longer in confinement; and, whether he will state to the House the number at present under confinement under the above Act?
THE EARL OF MAYOSir, when I moved for leave to introduce a Bill for the further extension of the Habeas Corpus Act there were ninety-six persons in confinement in Ireland under the Lord Lieutenant's warrant. I am happy to be able to state that this morning there were only twenty-three persons in confinement under the provisions of that Act, and, of those twenty-three, orders for the release of fourteen have already been made, on condition either that they leave the country or give solvent bail. As the House will see, there is reason to hope that before long any practical consequences of the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act in Ireland will have ceased.