The only Garda firing range has been shut for nearly six months due to safety concerns over fumes and at least one incident where a garda was grazed by a ricocheting bullet.
The closure of the indoor range at Garda Headquarters in the Phoenix Park, Dublin, has led to a backlog of firearms training for gardaí, who are required to undergo firearms practice a number of times each year to maintain their right to carry a firearm. Some 3,600 members of the force hold firearms authorisation cards, although only a proportion of these would hold personal weapons.
The Garda Representative Association (GRA) said there were up to to four incidents last year where bullets ricocheted off a back wall, which also led to the closure. According to outgoing GRA president Dermot O'Donnell, there was at least one occasion in May where the bullet "came back with enough force to graze the officer firing the gun".
The ricochets were caused by problems with the back wall. It comprises materials including steel and sand which are designed to "catch" the bullets.
Mr O'Donnell raised concerns with Garda authorities following the first incident, and said there were three further incidents reported to him before the firing range was closed in December. He said the situation showed "again that insufficient resources are being made available to gardaí".
Yesterday, Fine Gael and Garda representative bodies raised concerns about the closure, claiming the safety of gardaí and the public was at risk because of the lack of facilities.
All Garda firearms training is now taking place on Army firing ranges, although a number of options to replace the Garda ranges, including a possible public-private partnership scheme, is also being examined.
The Phoenix Park range was the last functioning Garda firearms training facility, after two ranges at the Garda training college in Templemore, Co Tipperary, were shut to allow for the development of buildings to facilitate the additional number of Garda recruits now in training.
Yesterday, a spokesman for An Garda Síochána confirmed that the range had been closed for safety reasons, citing problems with the extraction of fumes from the firing of guns. In a written Dáil reply to Fine Gael justice spokesman Jim O'Keeffe, Minister for Justice Michael McDowell said a specialist report had now been commissioned to identify the work needed to allow the facility to be reopened.
He also acknowledged that there was a backlog in training, which he said would be addressed later this year.
Mr O'Keeffe accused the Minister of "negligence" in leaving gardaí without sufficient training facilities, which he said put the safety of both gardaí and the public at risk.
A spokeswoman for Mr McDowell said resources were not an issue but that the issue of firearms training was an operational one for the gardaí.
The Garda authorities are examining the potential of leasing additional ranges and are also examining the possibility of developing a new range in partnership with a private gun club.