Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am sorry but the Minister of State has failed to address any of the questions contained within. He knows well that the only person who could have been regarded an expert resigned from that committee with the damning statement that he believed the committee was a farce. I do not know how the Minister of State, in an advisory capacity, can then use reports on foot of the only expert on that committee telling him that what was going on was a farce. The Minister of State knows perfectly well and does not need me to outline the anger the gun clubs in County Wexford and around the country feel about this process.

There were 80 recommendations. Of course I read the report. So have they. This is a cart-before-the-horse performance. It would have served better had the Minister of State gone back to the model that brought in the 2009 legislation, which is exactly what the stakeholders believe was a successful model. I encourage him now, on their behalf, that rather than doing it the other way around and putting the cart before the horse, to discard the reports that are held in esteem by no one, least of all by the experts who he says compiled them when clearly, the only expert resigned from the committee and gave it a damning report. To save everybody's face in this regard, he should start again and go back to the stakeholder involvement put together for the 2009 legislation that was compiled. As the model was not broken, I am not sure why he sought to fix it. There was a consultative panel, that was from 2004, which was a successful model with which everybody agreed. If it was not broken, I am unsure why the Minister of State tried to fix it. It certainly has not worked and all it has caused is consternation. There are huge concerns among many of the gun clubs and their members and different sporting events that would make them criminals, were any of the recommendations brought in.

I await the answer to this question with interest.

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