Garda seizures of illegal firearms on the decrease

Gardaí have seized an average of almost 900 illegal firearms per year since 2005, Justice Minister Alan Shatter has confirmed.

However, the figures provided to Mr Shatter by the gardaí show the number they recovered each year has fallen significantly over the last eight years.

The highest number of seizures was in 2006 when 1,009 were detained and it remained above the 800-mark until 2011 when there were just 737 seizures.