Ms Marion Walsh:

I will leave it to the members of An Garda Siochána to explain "lost" because they would know more about that than I would. I will pick up on the other points raised by the Chairman and Deputy Mac Lochlainn with regard to a breakdown of the figures. Indeed, Deputy Mac Lochlainn has previously raised that question and I expect that he will have that breakdown in the coming days which will indicate the various types of weapons in question. We can provide that information to the committee also.

Deputies McGrath and Mac Lochlainn made reference to the issue of balance and the rights of those of good character. If there are concerns about people who have been licensed at a certain stage - the period is three years, renewable - in terms of issues such as intemperate habits, unsound mind or other such concerns, the certificate can be revoked before the three year period elapses. On the issue of good character, obviously an awful lot of people in the jurisdiction would meet that criteria. The real question, if 1 million people applied for a firearms licence, is whether that is the type of society we want. While they might all meet the good character criteria, is that what we want in terms of firearms ownership in this jurisdiction going forward?

Perhaps Mr. Healy will respond to the question concerning lost firearms