§ Mr. Stanbrookasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish the figures for the numbers of persons whose return has been requested between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland under the provisions of the Backing of Warrants (Republic of Ireland) Act 1965 and the corresponding legislation of the Republic and the numbers of those returned in each direction for every year 695W since 1970, respectively; how many requests have been refused by each side; and how many of the refusals have been on the ground that political offences were involved.
§ Mr. MasonComprehensive records exist for the years from 1971 onwards. Since 1971, warrants have been sent from Northern Ireland to the Republic for the return of 192 persons for all types of offences and from the Republic to Northern Ireland for the return of 38 persons. As a result, the following numbers of persons were extradited, grouped according to the year in which the warrant was sent.
From the Republic to Northern Ireland From Northern Ireland to the Republic 1971 6 — 1972 — 1 1973 3 10 1974 10 3 1975 2 6 1976 6 2 1977 8 1 1978 (to date) 5 — 40 23 Extradition from the Republic was refused in respect of 45 persons, including 26 whose appeals were allowed on the grounds that the offences involved were political. There were no refusals to extradite from Northern Ireland. The balance of cases are either pending or the persons involved are no longer sought or have not been located