Derek McDowell (Labour)

I agree with Senator Cummins. While it is an offence for people to be in possession of fireworks, I do not want to have draconian laws which ruin children's careers by bringing them to the District Court. I want to deal with it mainly at source.

It is technically an offence to have a prohibited firework in one's possession. Senator Cummins makes that point and it echoes our earlier discussion of the rural-urban divide. It is a serious issue in rural Ireland. When mink was in fashion and people ran mink farms one of the consequences of fireworks was that it caused the animals to abort. Fireworks can have that effect on livestock, particularly horses. It can also cause them to do self-damage.

In urban Ireland, youngsters who get access to bangers put them through the letter-boxes of elderly people. It is great fun for the children because they do not think for a moment of the reaction of an elderly person in those circumstances. It was no surprise to me when an opinion survey we carry out showed that people want the present law enforced, do not want fireworks, are not interested in Guy Fawkes in the UK and do not think Hallowe'en requires fireworks. I must confess that this is a fine line.

One could argue as strongly that if children did not have access to bicycles there would be fewer injuries each year, and that would be a foolish argument. The amount of fun children get from fireworks does not justify the amount of damage done each year, the blinded children, the frightened parents, the frightened pets in urban areas and livestock in rural areas. On balance we are better off saying "No", and that is where the consensus lies.

A minority wants to liberalise the law but the majority does not agree. It is a question of political judgment and I will not say the answer is obvious. Normally I would not consult public opinion before legislating. While I was conservative on the subject and wanted to keep the present law and make it workable, before we took that road I wanted to know that I could tell the Government where public opinion lay. Public opinion is in favour of keeping the law as it is.