Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

The Garda Commissioner will shortly publish a 35-page document setting out guidelines on firearms licensing. Only certain issues can be addressed in the legislation and detailed background guidelines are required to ensure people fully understand its implications on a case by case basis. The guidelines were compiled by the firearms policy unit of the Garda Síochána in conjunction with the firearms consultative panel. I can send a copy of the guidelines to the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights shortly after they are published by the Garda Commissioner to give Members an opportunity to examine them.

The Bill is urgent and must be enacted in mid-July to facilitate implementation of the remaining sections of the Criminal Justice Act 2006, under which a three-year firearms licence will be introduced. Under this new legislation, provision will be made for a transition phase during which time all licences which are due to expire on 31 July will be extended. The extension will be for a minimum of three months up to a maximum of 12 months, from 1 November at the earliest until 31 July 2010 at the latest. The extensions will be assigned on a random basis to facilitate the phasing in of the new three-year firearms licence and will ensure all licences will not expire on the same date in future. On the enactment of the Bill, the Garda Commissioner will write to each licence holder and outline the period for which the licence has been extended. Given that there are approximately 230,000 such licences, this will be a major undertaking.

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