Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

Instead of rubbishing the WHO statistics, the Minister might be better employed telling me what he will do about that organisation's findings which state we have the highest homicide rate among young men in western Europe and the second highest for knife killings. Is it not the case that there were eight knife killings in 2003, some 21 in 2005 and 37 in 2007? It is a shocking report. If the Minister is challenging the validity of the figures, have he or his Department taken any steps to complain to the WHO that it has got its statistics wrong? Does the Minister agree it is absolutely shocking to find a reputable organisation such as the WHO drawing attention to the fact that Ireland is at the top of the league in western Europe for homicides among young males and second highest for killings by knife?

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