Almost one firearm was stolen in Ireland every day in the past five years, according to Garda figures seen by RTÉ News.

Over 1,700 weapons were reported stolen to An Garda Síochána from 2010 to 2014.

The guns, which were stolen from homes and firearms dealers, include handguns, rifles, shotguns and air pistols.

Almost half of the stolen weapons were shotguns, with 853 stolen.

Forty air pistols and 17 handguns were also reported stolen over the five-year period.

More guns were stolen in 2011, but the numbers have been decreasing since.

In five burglaries in 2012, guns were stolen from licensed firearms dealers.

In September of that year 30 firearms were stolen from a dealer in Wicklow.

In the other four burglaries, one, two, six and eight firearms respectively were stolen in Kildare, Meath and Sligo.

There were no reported robberies from gun dealers in 2010, 2011, 2013 or 2014.

Gardaí say it is not at present possible to accurately identify how many times stolen guns have been used in crimes but say they are compiling information on this for the Oireachtas Justice Committee.