John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy Troy for sharing time. I welcome the Bill, even though it has taken some time to get here. The purpose of the Bill is to make provision for an extension of the current hunting licence provisions for the Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2010. It removes the end date for certain provisions in that Act. All shotgun licences issued after 1 August 2009 will be valid for use by hunters to hunt lawfully wild birds and hares within the appropriate open seasons.

We have a gun club in every parish and half parish across the country. The sport is very popular and there was a very emotive debate around the country when the last Bill came before the House. Many halls in rural Ireland were packed to capacity, with people criticising the Bill at the time and the issue of shooting wildlife. I welcome the fact that the Minister is going to publish consolidated wildlife legislation in 2014, under the national biodiversity plan for 2011 to 2016. Perhaps he might explain why it is taking until 2014 to do this. It is a bit like the €2 billion announcement yesterday as everything seems to be built around 2014 and 2015. If I was cynical I would think it had something to do with the local elections in 2014, but perhaps that is not the case. Consolidated legislation is necessary, given that the primary wildlife legislation is there for the last 40 years and it needs to be examined.

There seems to be much disquiet about the issuing of licences and the activities of superintendents in Garda stations. People are not happy about the non-issuing of licences and the holding of guns in that area. In a recent case the judge threw out many of the defences put forward by the State. What road is the Minister going to take? I know this might be more of an issue with the Minister for Justice and Equality, but it seems strange that the State would be spending huge amounts of money on defending certain areas only to find judges throwing out the cases. Perhaps there is a better way of doing things.

It seems that every firearm licence issued will now also be a hunting licence. Before this change, a person had to apply and be assessed for a hunting licence. Can the Minister clarify that? People who are licensed to hold handguns will now also have a hunting licence. If my memory serves me right from the last time this legislation went through the House, it was an offence-----

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