§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many people have been held without bail under the Prevention of Terrorism Act each year since its inception; and how many have been charged with offences under the Act and which section, indicating in each category with which para-military organisation, if any, they were alleged to be associated;
(2) how many persons detained each year under the Prevention of Terrorism Act since the inception of the Act were subsequently charged with scheduled offences under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, indicating which offences and whether those charged were alleged members of paramilitary organisations or not, and indicating which organisations and whether loyalist or republican;
(3) how many persons he has served with exclusion orders each year since the inception of the Prevention of Terrorism Act; from which part of the United Kingdom they have been excluded; and how many would have been described as a republican or loyalist supporter, and how many of them have been convicted of offences which were either scheduled offences under the emergency provisions Act or would have been if convicted in Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. John PattenThe information that is readily available on persons detained in, and excluded from, Northern Ireland under the Prevention of Terrorism Act is136W published on a quarterly basis in a Northern Ireland Office statistical publication. Copies of the publication are placed in the Library of the House. Of the 23 exclusion orders referred to in the latest set of statistics published today, six related to exclusion from Northern Ireland only and 17 from the United Kingdom as a whole. The further information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.