The Government has been accused of failing to effectively implement legislation aimed at combating the use of fireworks.
There have been no convictions for the illegal possession of fireworks in the State over the last three years even though the number of people being injured by them has grown steadily, the Fine Gael Justice spokesman Mr Jim O'Keeffe said this afternoon.
He said that the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell was "always happy to legislate, but rarely follows it up with new resources".
Earlier this month Mr McDowell announced the launch of a Fireworks Public Awareness Campaign in connection with Criminal Justice Act 2006.The campaign, which will run up to Halloween, is aimed at raising awareness of the danger of fireworks.
Mr McDowell said the act introduced "new offences and strong new deterrents to the illegal use of fireworks."
But Mr O'Keefe said today it has been completely ineffective. Accusing the minister of being responsible for the "inadequate resourcing of the gardai", Mr O'Keefe pointed out that 137 people had been injured by exploding fireworks between 1996-2004.
He said that during Mr McDowell's time in office fireworks had become "widely available" and urged him to introduce licenses for controlled community fireworks displays.
"It appears that illegal fireworks will always come into the country and we have to find ways to control them", he said.
According to Mr O'Keeffe, new legislation has not prevented fireworks still being "smuggled into the country from Northern Ireland and the UK".