Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to paragraph 10.52 of the Report of the Hallett Review, if she will publish the names of the 13 on-the-runs who have benefited from the Royal Prerogative of Mercy.

Lady Justice Hallett concluded that she should not publish the names of OTRs (with the exception of John Downey) because she had been provided with this information on a confidential basis.

I do not propose to release the names of those whose cases were considered under the OTR administrative scheme. This is partly because of legal issues around data protection, etc, but also because publication of names might have a prejudicial effect on possible future criminal trials.

The assessment of my Department is that to release the names of individuals granted the RPM years ago would not be appropriate, given the time that has passed since the RPM was last used and the potential legal issues this would raise. There are of course means by which names of RPM recipients become public, including in the course of legal proceedings, which is a matter for the courts.