Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Notwithstanding the trend in the figures from the CSO which the Minister detailed, it is important to point out that last year alone 19 persons died as a result of knife attacks, which is a very high statistic given the population, and that there were 35 incidents in which people's lives were threatened with a knife during the commission of a crime. We know, for example, because we discuss burglary so often here, that many burglaries are aggravated burglaries in which a knife is used, and there have been incidents of car-jacking and other types of theft associated with knives.

The reason I raise it here on Question Time is that there is a subculture in Irish society within a small community of criminals who feel it is acceptable to carry and use knives in the commission of crimes. What I am asking is whether the Minister thinks we need to send out a more robust message about the carrying of knives in public places, which in many instances unfortunately leads to the commission of a crime resulting in death, and whether we need to have more robust legislation, including, for example, the possibility of a mandatory sentence for the carrying of a knife in a public place.

See this speech in context