New firing ranges for the Garda Síochána, the lack of which was criticised as "a serious deficit" by the Garda Inspectorate, should be in place within months, Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, has said.
The Department of Finance has agreed to fund new "state-of-the art modular live firing ranges that can be delivered within months", Mr McDowell said in a written parliamentary answer last week.
The closure of firing ranges at Garda Headquarters and at the Garda College in Templemore, Co Tipperary has left the Garda dependent on Army firing ranges since December, 2005.
However, the Army has, in turn, closed "many of its ranges, exacerbating the situation", the newly-formed Garda Inspectorate said in a report on Garda equipment to Mr McDowell last February.
The inspectorate called on Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy to appoint a senior officer to spearhead efforts to build new ranges and introduce electronic simulators "at the earliest possible time".
The original firing range in Templemore was lost when it was concreted over to build an accommodation block, following the Fianna Fáil/Progressive Democrats decision to recruit 2,000 extra gardaí in 2002.
"I secured Department of Finance sanction for Mr Conroy to advertise for state-of-the-art modular live firing ranges that can be delivered within months," the Minister said in a Dáil answer.
"I understand that Mr Conroy is drawing up urgent plans for a firing range at the major site recently acquired near Templemore for the new Garda centre of excellence.
"On tactical firearms training, 250 acres of land have been purchased near the Garda College at Templemore for this and other training purposes. A firing range will also be built as part of the new Forensic Science Laboratory at Garda Headquarters."
The problem has been exacerbated by Garda changing weapons, from the Smith & Wesson to the Sig Sauer and Walther semi-automatic pistols.
The indoor range at Garda Headquarters, in Phoenix Park, Dublin, closed in December 2005 after a number of ricochet incidents. There were also difficulties with the extraction of fumes from the facility.
The Department of Defence firing ranges were not available often enough to the Garda because of the Army's own training needs, and could not be used by the Garda at night.
Department of Justice statistics revealed that the number of gardaí entitled to carry weapons dropped significantly in the wake of the closure of the last Garda range, down from 3,773 to 3,216.
However, the department has argued that the lack of training had not cut the number of armed detectives, and had, instead, reduced the number of weapons-trained uniformed officers available.
