Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

For the past few weeks the skies of every town in Ireland have been lit up like Baghdad because of fireworks. It is time we, as legislators, got real. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is talking about increasing fines but he is only fooling himself. It is worth nothing that in some cases the maximum fine for illegally using fireworks is €5, so the legislation needs to be updated. It is time that we legalised the sale of fireworks so that we can at least control who we sell them to, as well as controlling the quality of the fireworks involved. That is the way forward. Otherwise we will be back again next year with the same protests and the same argument, and will be none the wiser. Three years ago 19 people were injured by fireworks and it is time we regulated the market, legalised it and made it safer for everybody.