HC Deb 22 June 1916 vol 83 c337W
Mr. BYRNE

asked the Home Secretary if he will allow members of this House who so desire to visit once a month the Irish prisoners of war who are serving long terms of imprisonment in English prisons; and if he is aware that the treatment of Irish political prisoners in the past makes these visits essential?

Mr. SAMUEL

I presume the hon. Member refers to prisoners under sentence of penal servitude. Such prisoners are entitled in the first part of their sentence to one visit in four months, but the interval is gradually reduced, if their conduct be good, to one month. I can find nothing in the past treatment of ' Irish prisoners that would be a precedent for exceptional measures in this respect.