asked the Minister for Justice if he intends to introduce legislation to control the sale and use of crossbows.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Crossbow Control.
5.
(Limerick East): The Deputy will appreciate that, as I have indicated on other occasions, I could not undertake to indicate, by way of reply to a Parliamentary Question, what legislative proposals I might have in a particular area. Any proposals that I may have in relation to the subject matter of this question will be announced in the ordinary way in due course. I would expect, however, that any proposals I might have would take account of the fact that there are many types of weapon that can be used offensively, including catapults, sling-shots and of course knives, and that, while some such weapons can be dangerous if misused, others can be more in the nature of toys and, moreover, some can be home-made.
Has the Minister received any reports from the Garda as to the kinds of uses to which these weapons are now being put, whether they have been used in robberies or similar incidents. whether there are any regulations governing the age of persons to whom they are being sold and whether there is any need for the sellers of such weapons to have a licence to sell them? Does the Minister consider that it would be desirable to have such restrictions?
(Limerick East): An incident took place on 28 November 1985 in Dingle, County Kerry, in which a garda was injured by a crossbow arrow. The matter was reported in the newspapers but the garda was not seriously injured. In 1985, as a result of that incident, information was collected across the Garda divisions and it does not emerge as a very serious problem with regard to the inflicting of personal injury. There were two reports of deer being injured in the Phoenix Park. There were three incidents of bolts from crossbows being fired through windows and two detections of crossbows being carried for protection. A mare died following injury by an arrow. A dog was shot in a dispute between neighbours. Itinerants were using crossbows to shoot pheasants. The only case of personal injury apart from that in County Kerry was an incident in Dundalk about eight years ago when a man accidentally injured himself.