§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Attorney-General (1) what requests he has received from the Attorney-General of the Irish Republic or his officials asking to disclose to any third party the statement of facts in the Brendan Smyth case; and if he will make a statement;
(2) what confidentiality agreement exists between his Office and his counterpart in the Irish Republic; when the agreement was first made; when it is reviewed; and to what material the agreement is applied;
(3) when the statement of facts in the Brendan Smyth case was passed to the appropriate authorities in the Irish Republic; to whom it was passed; and if any conditions were imposed then or subsequently on the disclosure of the statement of facts to any third party;
2W(4) if he is willing for the statement of facts and other documents he supplied to the authorities in the Irish Republic concerning the extradition of Brendan Smyth to be passed to members of the Dail legislation and security committee.
§ The Attorney-GeneralA statement of the facts in the Brendan Smyth case was supplied to the Irish Attorney-General on 4 May 1993. In all cases where they are required, such statements are provided on a confidential basis for the limited purpose of allowing the Irish Attorney-General to decide whether to allow the warrants for the arrest of the person concerned to be backed for execution in the Republic. No specific conditions have been imposed in this case.
On 22 December 1994, officials in the Irish Attorney-General's Office contacted my office asking my attitude to the possible release of this statement by the Irish Attorney-General to the Select Committee of the Dail on Legislation and Security.
My view is that it is a matter for the Irish Attorney-General to judge whether it is appropriate to supply a copy of the statement to that Committee in this case. Full statements are provided on the basis and for the purpose stated above and it would in general be prejudicial to the administration of justice if they were to become public. The anonymity of the injured parties named in this statement has until now been maintained. There is an ongoing investigation in respect of further alleged offences and it is important that any subsequent trial should be fair.
I understand that the Irish Attorney-General has declined to disclose the statement to the Committee.