Mr. Desmond Crofton:

I assure the Deputy everybody sitting at this table is deeply concerned about our sport being safeguarded and that the public is satisfied that we keep our firearms safe and they are not available to criminals at any level. I accept that in some areas there will be public concern about this. Hard and all as it may be to do so, depending on the position one takes, one must accept that we do not seek to broaden access to firearms or seek a change in the legislation to make it easier for people to have access to firearms. All of the submissions we have made are about a move to further restrict what we already have. If the Oireachtas wishes to do this it must provide credible data to back it up, but this has not happened. With regard to our consciousness of public safety, I assure the committee that nobody sitting here carries a flag or a mandate for relaxed regulation or the careless possession or use of firearms.