Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief because I am aware of the time constraints.

I am aware of the constitutional separation between the Judiciary and the Executive and this House, but I have a straight question for the Minister. Could he outline to this House in what circumstances has he the right to release somebody from prison on humanitarian grounds? I can remember clearly a case in which one of his predecessors in a Fine Gael-Labour Party coalition, on humanitarian grounds, let out somebody I knew well who was serving a sentence in prison.

The Minister is over-egging it a little if he states that it costs so many million euro for Shannon Airport to be made secure against a frail 79-year-old woman. The Minister knows why she will not sign the bond. She believes that signing that bond is tantamount to saying that the use of Shannon Airport, in her view, for war purposes, is right. We have often seen how people have supported persons of conscience even if they always did not agree with either their tactics or their view on an issue.

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