28. Mr. Flanneryasked the Attorney-General how many men and how many women have been convicted in Northern Ireland on the word of the so-called "supergrasses" up to the latest group of convictions.
§ The Attorney-GeneralAlthough the term "super-grass" has no precise meaning the question is taken to relate to certain trials for terrorist offences that have taken place in the courts of Northern Ireland in which evidence was given for the prosecution by individuals who were in some cases themselves admitted accomplices of the accused.
In the sense in which the term "supergrass" is now commonly used, trials based on the evidence of such individuals began during 1982 and since June 1982 54 men and five women have been convicted on the basis of such evidence.