During a Seanad debate on the Criminal Justice (Micellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009, I said: I welcome the Minister. I listened very carefully to his speech and was impressed. I had not realised how involved the Bill is although most of it deals with technicalities to which I shall not refer. I wish to mention the involvement with the Schengen information system. It is my view that Ireland should be involved in Schengen rather than in the British travel area. I realise that is not relevant to this legislation but it dawned on me when we talked about the Schengen Agreement and what the benefits would be if we were to sign up to it and to convince the British to do so too, or overcome that factor in some form or another...

Senator Alex White spoke about being tough on crime. If I were Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the first action I would take, with so many robberies, burglaries and stabbings, shootings, murders and killings, would be to be tough on crime. Every Minister appointed to that Department appears to be tough on crime.

I was impressed by the detail of the Bill. We have had three criminal justice Bills in this House at the same time, and Senator O’Donovan was looking for further Bills. There is clearly a need for them because there is a problem.

I shall deal with two points. First, the amending of the Firearms Acts 1925 to 2000 is perhaps the most important part of the Bill, given that almost every week a family is bereaved by shootings carried out by criminal gangs. Almost 2,000 handguns have been licensed during the past four years, with 579 new licences issued last year. That figure shows the explosion in gun ownership and demonstrates the real need to address the situation. I am not convinced the Bill will do everything it might to counter illegally held handguns.

However, it will certainly affect law-abiding citizens who are members of gun clubs. Research shows that guns used in criminal activity do not come from gun clubs or their members. In my view, this Bill will probably do little or nothing to stop illegally held handguns, and genuine sporting enthusiasts should be able to gain licences. When there are burglaries of houses in the countryside, if a gun is available it is always the first item stolen. Therefore, many illegally held guns are probably stolen from licensed owners. I understand the going price for a cut-down gun in Limerick or in areas of Dublin is approximately €500. One can see how tempting it is for a criminal who enters a farmhouse where there is a legally held gun.

At a time when Garda resources are being cut back, we must keep in mind that it is gardaí who are doing most in the fight against illegally held firearms. They have proven very successful in seizing such firearms in recent years. It is estimated that 2,000 weapons have been seized under Operation Anvil. This year that operation’s budget was increased modestly, from €20 million to €21 million. However, instead of punishing law-abiding gun club members, why does the Minister not increase substantially the successful operations budget, resources and remit of Operation Anvil? What, if any, is the long-term plan for Operation Anvil? Will its budget be cut in the future as has been the case with Garda operations in general in the recent past? Is there any other way of removing a large number of illegally held firearms from our streets?

I welcome that penalties for carrying knives are to be increased considerably. The number of offences by people in possession of a knife has risen dramatically in the past five years. I have a figure showing a 72% increase in offences relating to the possession of offensive weapons, mainly knives. Of these, only 32% resulted in convictions, which is worrying. I do not understand how anybody can go out with a knife of any kind and not be found guilty of a crime. The legislation, therefore, is to be welcomed. There have been recent shocking incidents of people wielding samurai swords and causing serious injuries. I am glad that offence has been included.

The Minister, Deputy Ahern, stated in the Dáil he was determined to stamp out a practice known as practical shooting and that his Department had monitored with concern “competitions in which people shoot their way through multi-stage target courses based on real-life combat scenarios, such as a home invasion or a hostage rescue”. He went on to say:“This activity is one that seeks to glorify and normalise attitudes to high-powered handguns and promote their use and ownership.” The Minister described practical shooting as a “highly undesirable” recent development in Irish shooting sports. The Minister of State has told the House of his plans in this regard.

I have some degree of sympathy with the Minister’s viewpoint although I believe the problem of so-called practical shooting is exaggerated. I was not aware of it. The German Government had plans to ban combat games such as paintball - where players shoot paint at one another - but has pulled back, although it has not dropped the legislation. In response to a recent school shooting near Stuttgart about which we all read, German politicians wanted to outlaw the sport, calling it immoral and disgraceful, and impose a €5,000 fine. Will the Government go down the route planned, but not yet followed, by Germany? Given that a superintendent has the power to grant permission for such realistic imitation devices, will there be a de facto ban on paint balling in some parts of the country? I do not regard it as a sport, but it became quite popular, even among management classes, in recent years.

The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is concerned with so-called practical shooting, but what is his stance on computer games in which ultra-realistic killing and other types of violence are integral parts of the plots? Do such computer games “glorify and normalise attitudes to high-powered handguns”? I believe they do. While I do not have much experience with them, such computer games are quite aggressive and vicious. Is the Minister in favour of a more comprehensive ban on “killing” computer games?

The Bill introduces some small amendments to our bail regime, which remains one of the world’s most lax. Is legislation to tighten up the area planned? Previously, there were constitutional difficulties regarding bail issues, but respect for the law is reduced considerably when someone who is awaiting trial is accused of committing second, third and, in a recent case, 16 other offences while on bail. I urge the Minister of State to consider what we must do to restore respect for the law.

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