§ Mr. Kilfedderasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether public funds have been used at any time in the last five years for the provision of summer holidays for the families and children of convicted IRA terrorists in Her Majesty's prison, Maze; ad what was the amount involved.
§ Mr. AlisonVarious Departments in Northern Ireland provide funds for holidays for thousands of children from Northern Ireland each year. These holidays are provided by statutory or voluntary agencies either wholly or partly at public expense for educational and community relations purposes or as a response to the specific needs of the children and their families. It would not be possible without disproportionate expense to determine the number of children, if any, involved in these holidays during the past five years whose fathers were serving sentences in Her Majesty's prison, Maze, on conviction of charges of membership of the IRA.