Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

In so far as it updates the criminal law, the Labour Party supports this Bill. We also support bringing into effect the Council decision on the establishment and operation of the Schengen information system. Whereas the greater part of the Bill is concerned with the European arrest warrant system, and with amending the European Arrest Warrant Act 2003, I suspect that the sections concerned with amending the Firearms Acts 1925 to 2006 will be most promoted for public attention. The public reaction, which is not surprising given the frequency of the resort to the use of illegal weapons in our society, will be to welcome any measures that promise to tackle gun crime. On closer scrutiny, whereas the Bill reforms the law in the matter of the possession of firearms, the link to restricting the weapons available to criminal gangs is harder to find. I will return to this point.

I accept the conclusions of the experts and of those at the coalface that this Bill will tighten up and improve the operation of the European arrest warrant system and surrender procedures. However, I am bound to admit that I do not have available to me the knowledge or backup to evaluate in detail the procedures being put in place under the amendments. I do not believe the procedures put in place by the Oireachtas generally are adequate to scrutinise some of the measures that originate in Europe. Perhaps as we search for a modern day role for Seanad Éireann, that House could be provided with the meaningful role of scrutinising measures referred by Europe.

A number of miscellaneous issues tacked on to the Bill appear broadly acceptable. However, Committee Stage will offer an opportunity to examine them in greater detail. In addition, the Minister has promised a number of additional amendments, the shape of which we do not yet know and as such we will have to wait until we have sight of them before commenting. On the point I made earlier in regard to research and backup, I take this opportunity to state that the Oireachtas Library and Research Service made contact this morning with a digest on this Bill, which is quite helpful and should be acknowledged. The Bill has been moved through the House with some speed. I believe we should acknowledge that service from the library.

I return now to the supposition I made when drafting my contribution on this Bill. Notwithstanding the fact that the greater part of the Bill is taken up with the European arrest warrant system and the new procedures, including the miscellaneous matters to which the Minister referred at the end of his speech, it is the measures to deal with firearms that are being promulgated. The Minister tore into his Second Stage speech at speed, a copy of which we did not have, and had envisaged all types of horrors by the time we caught up with him.

Many people outside this House will be under the impression, from what the Minister said, that the Bill deals with the incidents of resort to violent weapons we have seen in recent years, particularly firearms, on the streets of some urban areas of Ireland and will clamp down on the availability of weapons to criminal gangs. That is the impression people will have. We will need to tease out this matter in more detail on Committee Stage.

When I heard the Minister's first statement my reaction was similar to that of most citizens, namely, any measure that restricts access by the criminal fraternity to firearms is a good measure. It goes without saying that anybody committed to the rule of law would not be against measures to reasonably control guns. Every week, almost without exception, we awake to the loss of life as a result of the use of guns by feuding criminal gangs. The subliminal message from the Minister was that his new legislative proposals will tackle the availability of weapons to criminal gangs. The more one examines the Bill, the more one finds the Minister's proposals will have virtually no impact on the use of or access to firearms by criminal gangs. Rather, it will have significant impact on law-abiding citizens who are members of gun clubs and hold licensed weapons in supervised conditions. The evidence is that criminals do not get their hands on guns used by such clubs. We have the Minister's word on this in response to parliamentary questions. Sporting and gun clubs are not the source of guns for criminal gangs. The Minister's replies to parliamentary questions show that there is no credible evidence to link legally held handguns with crime of any kind.

The Minister, as recently as 22 April, in response to a question on the subject to my colleague, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, made clear that it was not possible to say precisely how many formerly legally held handguns have been used in criminal offences. The Minister in his speech today, a copy of which I did not have at the time - the Minister will be aware we have had little time to read it given we have been dealing with another Bill in committee - stated that a number of handguns have been stolen from licence holders. These guns by definition are immediately in criminal hands. This is an important issue. There is a hell of a difference between that response and the answers we have been given up to now.

A relatively small number - I am advised the figure is approximately 1% - of firearms in the country are legally held handguns in the possession of sporting clubs in rigorously prescribed conditions, the licence holders of which have been vetted by the Garda Síochána. These particular firearms are held for the purpose of participation in legitimate legal sporting disciplines and international competition. Some individuals have more than one licensed handgun because different sporting disciplines require the use of different types and calibre of handgun. Taking all this into consideration, it is estimated that we are probably dealing with approximately 500 to 600 individual handgun licence holders and not the proliferation of handguns suggested.

The question is whether there is any evidence that some of these pistols find their way into the hands of the criminal fraternity. The Minister, as recently as 22 April, in the parliamentary question to which I referred earlier, told the Dáil that 31 handguns had been recorded as stolen since 2004 and that: "[I]t is not possible to say precisely how many formerly legally held handguns had been used in criminal offences." It appears there is no evidence to show that legally held handguns or stolen legally held handguns have been used in the commission of any crime. I am open to correction from the Minister on that point. There is no evidence that I can find, including from the Minister.

The Labour Party fully supports the law being brought up to date in the matter of the licensing of firearms, their security and their use. We do not, however, support measures purportedly introduced to tackle crime being used to put legitimate sports clubs out of business. The sport of handgun target shooting in Ireland is not insignificant and is a dimension of indigenous rural business in some counties. If there was evidence that handguns used in any of the 40 plus shooting ranges were finding their way into the hands of criminals using firearms in our estates and on our streets, the Labour Party would support the banning of handguns. However, no such evidence exists.

On closer scrutiny of this part of the Bill it would appear that the manner of framing critical sections is a knee-jerk reaction by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform following recent terrible shooting tragedies, particularly in Limerick. The spin being put out by agents of the Minister is to the effect that he is taking tough action on gun control which will help put the feuding gangs out of business. On closer scrutiny it is clear that the principal casualties of the Bill will be law abiding citizens who use licensed handguns for legitimate sporting purposes after submitting to rigorous assessment by the Garda Síochána. This part of the Bill therefore requires a fundamental rethink and revision. The Minister is smiling and I am always happy to put a smile on his face, but I refer him to some typical correspondence-----

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