Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

I thought the Minister did, but let me take it a stage further. Whatever he said and whatever guidelines the Commissioner formulates, they will have some impact on a law-abiding citizen who has done nothing wrong, simply because he lives in the same parish as or near a wrongdoer. Not only is he to be deprived of rights and negatively affected, he is not to know why. If he is denied a firearms certificate because of guidelines of which he is not to know, what is he supposed to believe?

It is very difficult. I had a case in my constituency where an individual was denied a firearms certificate, and no reason was given. If one is a ne'er-do-well, one should be told so and that one is not trusted. However, the notion that any citizen can be deprived of a right and not have that made public is unjust. There must be some mechanism of appeal if one believes oneself to have been wrongly deprived of a right. One can only know that if a reason is given. The notion of transparency must be embedded in every Department, including the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. They must be transparent in explaining such things. I am very disappointed at the Minister's attitude to these matters.

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