Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I very much agree with the Deputies who have praised the response of Prime Minister Ardern to last month's events in Christchurch. I believe she responded with great dignity and leadership. She became a unifying force for New Zealand. In our conversations, she often speaks about how we need to tackle both the root causes and the enablers of terrorism and extremism. That is the correct approach. Quite frankly, I do not think she could have handled it better. I am absolutely sure she would have preferred not to have had to handle it at all.

Gun control in New Zealand was very weak, relative to Ireland, prior to last month's appalling tragedy in Christchurch. The authorities in New Zealand responded to what happened by taking the opportunity to tighten their gun laws, which are still somewhat looser than the gun laws in this jurisdiction. We already have stringent controls on the issuing of firearms certificates by An Garda Síochána and the conditions under which firearms can be held. There are penalties in place for firearms offences under the Firearms Acts. Every application for a firearms certificate is considered on its individual merits. An application cannot be granted by a Garda superintendent unless certain conditions set out in law are met. The Firearms Acts provide that a person applying for a firearms certificate "can be permitted" to possess a firearm "without danger to the public safety" and must have "a good reason for requiring the firearm".

Certain firearms, such as semi-automatic centrefire rifles and large-calibre handguns, are considered restricted under Irish law and attract additional conditions over and above the standard requirements that must be met. Such requirements include a requirement for the applicant to have "demonstrated that the firearm is the only type of weapon that is appropriate for the purpose for which it is required". Decisions on restricted firearms are made by a Garda chief superintendent. The Firearms Acts also provide for the revocation of a firearms certificate if the conditions which applied to the granting of the firearms certificate in the first instance are no longer met.

Mandatory minimum sentences were introduced in 2006 for certain firearms offences on foot of concerns about the effects that such offences were having on society in general. Legislation was introduced in 2008 to arrest the growth in large-calibre handguns. As a result, such firearms are no longer licensable unless a firearms certificate was held at the time the legislation was commenced. While there are approximately 200,000 firearms certificates in the State, the vast majority of them relate to shotguns that are held by farmers for the purposes of vermin control.

A substantial review of firearms licensing, including consultation with the public, stakeholders and the relevant Oireachtas committee, has been undertaken in recent years. A number of actions have been identified as a result of this review. The Department of Justice and Equality is actively progressing some of these actions, including a ban on new licences for semi-automatic centrefire rifles and the establishment of a firearms assessment and appeals authority. Almost all gun crimes in Ireland are committed using guns that are held illegally and are not licensed. I think it is fair to say that our gun laws are successful in that regard. The issue of illegally held firearms is a separate matter that requires separate action.

Cabinet subcommittee F, which deals with national security and comprises Ministers, officials, representatives of Defence Forces intelligence and Garda intelligence and personnel from the National Cyber Security Centre, has met in the past two weeks. We used that opportunity to review the threat level. We recognised that if a lone-wolf white supremacist from Australia could go to New Zealand and do what he did, a lone-wolf white supremacist here in Ireland, or from Britain, could do something similar here. No country is immune to terrorism. We considered what could be done to prevent it and how we would respond to it. For the first time, there have been joint exercises involving the Garda, the Defence Forces and the blue-light services. We have advertised for the position of head of the new national security co-ordination centre, which will be set up under the auspices of the Department of the Taoiseach. We will have that structure established this year.

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