Firearm licence fee collection to be outsourced
Gardaí have traditionally collected the fees for the firearms certificates on behalf of the Revenue Commissioners, but have now advertised for another company to carry out the function.
As of the end of last July there were 233,120 firearm certificates in the country, and the fees collected on the licences brought in €3.3 million for the Revenue in 2008.
Last month the Garda Síochána put the contract for collection of the fees out to tender, with interested parties having until the end of March to express an interest. A Garda spokesman denied the task of collecting the fees was being outsourced over Garda manpower issues, but said the job was not one of the force’s core functions and could be carried out by someone else. While the tender has already been posted, any outsourcing is dependent on new legislation in the form of the revised firearms legislation which is part of the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous) Bill awaiting publication.
A Garda spokesman said: “The provision for the outsourcing for the collection of fees for firearms certificates is one of these sections contained in the legislation.” Under existing regulations the firearm certificate licensing year runs from August 1 to July 31 the following year and all firearm certificates have a common expiry period of July 31.
Under the revised legislation this would change to a firearm certificate remaining valid for a period of three years from the date it is granted, thereby scrapping the common expiry period.
Fees for firearm certificates currently range from €25 for an unlimited shotgun (granted for use in the shooting of game), to €38 for a pistol, revolver or rifle.
Among the most recent public tenders posted on the state’s tenders website is for IT Disaster Recovery Services for the National Treatment Purchase Fund in the event of a fire at its offices on Dublin’s Tara Street.
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