New legislation to increase the penalties for illegal importation, sale and use of fireworks are to be introduced by the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell.
The Department of Justice confirmed last night that a review was under way into the legislation governing the use of fireworks, which dates back to 1875.
Some provisions of the 1875 Explosive Act contain maximum fines of only £5 (€6.35).
Mr McDowell told the Dáil last week that he was very aware of the distress illegal fireworks caused to people, particularly around Hallowe'en. He said that he had asked his officials to prepare legislative proposals in the short term to increase significantly the penalties in a bid to strengthen the powers of the Garda.
The Department of Justice said last night it hoped to publish proposals for increasing the penalties under the existing legislation by the end of the year.
Fireworks are considered to be explosives under the provision of the 1875 Act and can only be imported into the State under licence from the Department of Justice.
The Minister said that it was clear that supplies of fireworks continued to be imported into the State in contravention of the law, especially in the period leading up to and around Hallowe'en.
He said that the gardaí had put in place several operations to deal with this problem, including intelligence gathering and follow-up action aimed at the seizure of illegal fireworks.
The Fine Gael TD, Ms Olivia Mitchell, who questioned the Minister in the Dáil last week, said that the illegal use of fireworks could be upsetting and traumatic for the public.
She called for the ban to be enforced or the sale of fireworks to be regulated.
