James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)

This Bill makes several amendments to the operation of the system of information exchange between European authorities, alters the law relating to European arrest warrants and makes significant changes to firearms licensing regulations. These matters have been outlined by previous speakers also.

It is almost inevitable that the focus of discussion will be directed towards the issue of handguns. This is a topic that has caused widespread outrage, both from those who rightly condemn the illegal and often fatal use of such weapons and from those who view the issue from another perspective, such as sport and the perceived right to own a gun.

Best estimates indicate that there are approximately 20 licensed firearms per 1,000 people in the Republic. New Zealand, which has a similar population to ours, has approximately 760,000 legally held rifles and shotguns. Approximately 4% of households in the United Kingdom possess some form of legal firearm with a national legally held armoury of long guns of approximately 4 million weapons. Before the legislation passed in the aftermath of Dunblane in 1996, there were approximately 200,000 licensed handguns in the United Kingdom.

We must also consider the overall picture concerning illegal weapons held in Ireland. These are split into two categories: grey and black guns. Grey guns are those not held in compliance with firearms regulations. This may be due to ignorance of legal obligations or an attempt to save licensing costs. These weapons are frequently in poor condition and are rarely used. Some of them are antiquated and people hang them on their walls as ornaments. A substantial armoury of bolt-action weapons dating from before the Second World War is thought to make up the bulk of these weapons. While they are held illegally, they are not generally suitable for criminal activity.

Of far more significance is the number of black firearms. These are imported weapons expressly for use for criminal purposes. There are no reliable estimates of the number of black firearms in Ireland, but they are known to be considerable. The Minister has not provided any estimate of the number of such weapons held here and I do not believe he knows how many there are.

To date, legislation on the control of firearms here has been piecemeal. The steady rise in the licensing of weapons for personal use is indicative that immediate corrective action must be taken. Approximately 1,800 pistol licenses were granted last year, with a worrying inconsistency in the numbers granted from district to district. Garda superintendents have been operating in isolation without universal guidelines to direct their decisions. This Bill will enable a more rigorous system to be put in place from August this year. I am disappointed, however, that it took the remarks made in the High Court last July to force the Minister to carry out what he termed an urgent and intensive review of firearms legislation.

Fine Gael has been calling for a long time for the Government to address this problem. Over the past 20 years, our spokespersons are on record as having called for such legislation. Across America and Europe, we have seen the horror of random shootings of innocent people - the victims of perpetrators of unsound mind.

The new guidelines will allow Garda superintendents to inquire into the medical history of applicants and seek character references. Such provisions are very important. This, allied with certain minimum standards for the storage of firearms, will provide a framework for the safer issuing of firearms licences. Such measures are of the utmost importance to us all. Communities are scared of those who hold firearms and, from time to time, we hear dreadful stories after tragic events.

Unless firearms are controlled, we could see a situation here akin to that in the United States where the right to own a gun has, in many states, outweighed the risk to life posed by an unregulated gun sector. There may be a historic precedent in the US for such gun ownership. However, unless we take appropriate measures here in the short-term, we could lose control of what is already, essentially, an ad hoc approach to gun regulation. One of the most disturbing aspects of the Bill is the fact that the Minister is focusing to a marked degree on legally held firearms, with the result that the spotlight is being removed from the issue of illegal firearms. The Minister does not need me to remind him that criminality and gangland crime are rampant but apparently what he does need is strong urging from this side of the House to tackle the problem head on.

Fine Gael is the party of law and order and since the foundation of the State our policy has been to deal with criminals. We do not want people victimised and imprisoned in their own homes as we have witnessed. I was canvassing with people in my area last week and at 9 p.m. I had to wait almost 15 minutes for an elderly lady to take down barricades of stools and tables from the door of her house before she could open it when she heard who was there. This is not a proper way for our elderly citizens to live.

There seems to be a lack of consistency in the Minister's approach to this serious matter, which I want to see addressed. The Minister promises tough measures to tackle crime but his proposal to review legislation on the licensing of guns on an annual basis does not even feature in the Bill. A total of 12,000 new firearms licences were issued between 2007 and 2008, bringing the total number in the State to 233,000. The previous figure of 221,000 remained static between 2004 and 2006 but with regard to the increased number issued from 2007 to 2008 there was a resultant 500% increase in the number of pistol and handgun licences issued since 2003, with an increase in the number of rifle licences of 20%.

I would like to see the legislation containing greater provision for the use of handguns by sporting clubs. Surely, it would have made sense for the granting of licences in such cases to be directed at sporting organisations rather than individuals. Strict guidelines enforced on clubs for the custody of such firearms, on which continued operation of the sporting facilities would depend, would be easier to enforce than strictures on individuals. Handgun shooting is an internationally recognised sport. At a time when the Government is withdrawing capital funding from clubs and sporting organisations across many disciplines, it is imperative that unnecessary restrictions do not hamper Ireland's participation in world class events. A Longford man, Derek Burnett, whom we all know very well, represented Ireland at the Beijing Olympics. This was a source of great pride to the people of County Longford and to the country.

With gangland crime spiralling out of control and rural crime rates rising, the Minister's attention needs to be focused on illegally held guns. To date, one of his more dubious solutions to tackling gangland crime has been to rob Peter to pay Paul by taking a much needed Garda presence out of rural communities and transferring it to urban areas. The recruitment of the promised extra gardaí would have eliminated the need for such counter-productive juggling.

Removing a Garda presence from rural communities, such as my area of Longford-Westmeath, opens the door to urban criminals who are being given an invitation to crime as the Government exports the problem of criminal activity form cities to rural communities. I am glad a rural Minister of State, Deputy Finneran, is sitting across from me. He knows the effect this is having on the midlands as he is from Roscommon. He knows first-hand the problems rural people encounter on a daily basis with regard to criminal activity and criminals coming from Dublin and attacking them in their homes and communities. I have seen this first-hand in my area of Longford-Westmeath where local people are being threatened and terrorised by gangs driving from Dublin.

Last week in my parish, an old age pensioner was forced to hand over €200 at knife point to a criminal. He was terrorised and could do nothing else but hand over what he had in the house to the criminal. This is not right in any society. Three weeks ago, my next-door neighbour came down the stairs of her home to be confronted by criminals in the living room. It took some persuasion to get them out of the house on that evening. She was a very brave woman to confront them and compliments must go to her. This is why we need a strong Garda presence in rural areas.

Fighting urban gangland crime by withdrawing an essential Garda presence in rural areas is extremely short-sighted and of deep concern to those in the midlands and the entire country. The proposed closure of the valuable one-man Garda stations in Castletowngeoghegan, Ballinahown, Ballymore, Glasson, Multyfarnham, Rathowen and Aughnacliff in County Westmeath and many areas in County Longford, which are already under-manned, will lead to increased violence, crime and vandalism. The biggest mistake ever made by a Government was to close the small rural Garda stations. When I attended primary school I knew who was the garda serving my area; today nobody has a clue who serves a particular area. The gardaí used to be in constant consultation with the community and had a great insight into what was happening in the area. There was far less crime then than there is today.

In a time of increasing crime, which as we all know is escalating in proportion to the recession, it is imperative that the Minister does not cut essential Garda numbers in places which already have a skeleton staff. Centralising Garda personnel may be seen as a cost-cutting measure for a shamefully undermanned cash-strapped force to cope with gangland activities. In some parts of the country criminals are better equipped than the Garda Síochána and I am sorry to have to say this but it is a fact. However, the cost will be borne by counties such as Longford and Westmeath, where remote areas will see the closure of single officer stations and the increased breakdown of law and order combined with a lack of security for residents. I pointed out a few instances of this in my patch of County Longford and it is widespread throughout our country.

While the Bill will increase the penalty in the existing Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act 1990, the law needs considerable strengthening. In November last year, Fine Gael published the Criminal Justice (Violent Crime Prevention) Bill to clear up areas relating to sentencing, automatic remission and penalties for possession of firearms and blades. Specific proposals on firearms included the mandatory reporting of the loss or theft of any firearm or ammunition, with penalties for failure to comply extending to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine, and on conviction on indictment to imprisonment of a term not exceeding five years or a fine or both; and possession of a firearm to carry a penalty on conviction on indictment of a fine not exceeding €50,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years or both. The Private Members' Bill in which these proposals were put forward by Fine Gael was rejected by the Government. I hope it will take on board some of the proposals in our Criminal Justice (Violent Crime Prevention) Bill, which came before the House last year.

While this Bill increases the penalties for knife crime, the problem is enforcement. The number of offences of possession of a knife rose dramatically in the past five years, with a 72% increase in offences relating to the possession of offensive weapons, mainly knives. Of these, only 32% resulted in convictions. This is a very low conviction rate and it must be addressed. It is another reason that additional Garda manpower is needed throughout the country and particularly in rural areas. I understand that the number of Garda recruits in Templemore at present is smaller than it has been in two decades. This is an indictment of a Government that promised zero tolerance when Deputy Bertie Ahern took office as Taoiseach. Why is this? Given the alarming escalation in the number of stabbings and associated fatalities in the UK, the Government should be putting in place every possible preventative measure to ensure that copycat crimes of this nature do not become a feature of urban youth gangs. The appalling and senseless loss of life among young people, many still in school, that has become such a regular occurrence in the UK should shock the Government into the strongest action possible. However, the annual conviction rate in this country has remained static at 36% to 38%. How can this be changed?

I do not believe the way to tackle knife crime lies in targeting the social networking websites. My colleague, Deputy Charles Flanagan, dealt with this earlier. Utilising sites such as Bebo and Facebook is a wasted gesture aimed at getting cheap publicity. The Minister is fond of smiling and laughing; he appeared to be in good humour when he was in the Chamber earlier. He should re-examine this approach. He is also fond of the limelight and probably read the article about him in this month's issue of Phoenix magazine. However, only the most naïve would believe that users of these network sites would access them to receive a message from the Government or its Ministers.

This is a serious issue that requires serious and well formulated, decisive action - without spin. There has been far too much spin on the part of this Government over the years, and much of it has got us into the current mess. However, I am delighted the Minister has decided finally to outlaw samurai swords. They are dangerous and a dreadful threat to life. I support the Bill. It was listed as one of the five priority Bills last summer so it is not before time that it has come before the House.

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