John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I will come to that. I acknowledge the Senator's point as to why I can come in here and quote certain organisations. He is quite properly asking whether they are simply saying they do not condone or whether they support the Minister. I will come to that in a few minutes to explain on what their level of support for the Minister is based.

I am not trying to be soft on advices from the Garda. I recognise the issue of civil liberties. When I was involved in the pub trade, the Garda would often make submissions to the Minister regarding licensing laws, opening hours, under-age drinking controls etc. Any Minister would take those advices, just as advice is being taken here now. Senator Alex White asked to see the advice the Garda gave the Minister. I can only refer to the submission by the assistant commissioner, in the final paragraph of which he stated that he recommended that practical shooting, which is clearly compared to combat shooting and not target shooting, should be removed and banned as this type of training in weapons is not legitimate and could be utilised by criminal elements. It would not be in the best interest of the citizen or the State for the Minister to ignore that level of advice.