Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The challenge here is to strike a balance between public safety and the rights of people of impeccable character to continue to be involved in sport or gun clubs throughout Ireland. There are large numbers of such clubs, particularly in rural Ireland, which have been in existence for many years. There is a lot of conflict with the representative organisations which have been taking legal cases. I think they have won approximately 650 case in the courts and from the perspective of An Garda Síochána, that points to the need for legislation to deal with the various concerns involved.

I wish to go through some of the issues that have been raised by one of the organisations that will appear before this committee in January. Representatives from that organisation have made the point that the report published by the Department states that 1,134 firearms were stolen from licence holders between 2010 and 2013. On the face of it, that is a very serious matter. Indeed, one of these weapons was apparently used in the murder of the Corbally brothers. Is there a detailed breakdown available on those stolen licensed firearms? The representatives who spoke to me argued that some could be antique guns, blank-firing guns, crossbows and so forth. There is a whole range of weapons held under license here. Would it be possible to get clarification on that issue? The organisation also makes the point that it is a very tiny percentage of the overall number of guns in the country, which stands at over 200,000. That said, it is a very large number and it would be a matter of public concern that there are 1,134 stolen firearms at large. It would be important to get a breakdown of the specific types of firearms. The representatives also contest the numbers in the report and want to see crime reports from those who had their weapons stolen to back up the numbers published. This committee would need to see detailed information in that regard. I must say that I am concerned about the number myself and am sure the other committee members are concerned about that too.