Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

It is a public awareness campaign like those which have been developed by the police in the UK and the PSNI across the Border. The increasing use of knives is a problem on these islands. As I said in my initial reply, I deplore and abhor any violence involving knives. The figures show that there has been a significant reduction in such violence so far this year. There was a spike in knife crime last year by comparison with previous years. The Garda Commissioner decided to instigate a public awareness campaign as part of the Garda plan for 2008. It is his initiative and his initiative alone. I welcome it. The Garda is trying to make the public aware of how lethal knives can be. As I said in my reply, most knife crime is committed in domestic situations. In such circumstances, knives tend to be used because they can be easily accessed in the vicinity of where the row is taking place. The action being taken under the Garda plan is a clear indication of the priority the force is attaching to this problem. The Garda Commissioner has indicated to his officers that it is a priority.

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