Vol. 559 No. 6
223 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of illegally held firearms which were seized in each of the Garda divisions, for each of the past three years; and his proposals to curtail the widespread availability of firearms in recent years. [26997/02]
Details concerning firearms seized by the Garda are published in the Garda Síochána annual reports. However, I am informed by the Garda authorities that a break down of these statistics per Garda division is not readily available and could only be obtained by the expenditure of a disproportionate amount of Garda time and resources.
As regards the issue of the availability of firearms, the Deputy will be aware that the holding of a firearm is strictly governed by the provisions of the Firearms Acts, 1925 to 2000. The Garda Síochána take all appropriate action to ensure that illegally held firearms are seized and that the holders of such firearms are proceeded against.
