Legislative Measures Seanad Éireann — 2026-01-22 ============================================================ Alan Dillon (FG), Mayo I thank the Senator for her interest and for bringing this into the Chamber this morning. What I can state here today is in regard to the interest and the progress within the EU Commission's proposal on the wide-span ban on lead in ammunition in the context of lead being toxic for human health and the environment. It is important again to stress that I do not have a policy responsibility in respect of the proposal and also I am not in a position here this morning to address the technical aspects of such a restriction. It is important that there is cross-governmental input in regards to the stakeholder engagement. The Department of justice also had an important role in regard to its advice on the implications for firearms legislation in regard to an alternative use. The Senator referred to firearm proofing, which is really important and significant. There is an absence here in Ireland in regards to those 140,000 licences that are currently in existence. We are looking for further engagement with the NPWS in assessing its proposal from its perspective and indeed from its previous experience working on such an issue over wetlands. It is well informed by its expertise, but also its previous experience of attending and voting within the REACH committee on Ireland's position. The Department of agriculture and others are also best placed in regards to the proposed ban on the activity within their remit. We need a co-ordinated and coherent Irish position on the very diverse perspectives. The Senator has raised many of those concerns here this morning and I am sure many other member states have other perspectives. There will be an updated text on any proposal and we will continue to engage with the EU Commission on the policy position. We will update the House on that. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-01-22/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:32+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-01-22