Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

Perhaps the Minister would wait for Committee Stage. It is my entitlement to say a few words. The provision in section 29 is a devilishly clever abuse of the system, which will no doubt accumulate great wealth and riches for the Exchequer.

One of the more bizarre and unusual of the miscellaneous provisions in the Bill is in section 30, which relates to the secure accommodation of firearms. This is before we even have sight of the extra chunk of amendments which are to be made to the Bill. The section provides that a new requirement for obtaining a firearms certificate is to have available a secure place for the accommodation of the firearm. While this is an eminently suitable provision it is totally misplaced in a Criminal Justice Bill, which I hope the Minister will explain to the House on Committee Stage.

All the other conditions for securing a firearms certificate are contained in the Firearms Act 1925. Any right-minded person would amend the Firearms Act, but not the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform who must be provocative and different. He has incensed the National Association of Regional Game Councils and they are outraged at the proposal to bring them and their sporting activities within the ambit of criminal law. Approximately 200,000 members of these organisations are roaming the countryside.

The discharge of firearms with fatal results has been a major feature in criminality in today's Ireland. However, it is illicit weaponry bought on the Internet, as indicated by Superintendent Roche in Blanchardstown——

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