Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Last Friday, an 18 year old boy, Azzam Raguragui, was tragically stabbed in Dundrum and died a short time later. I know the thoughts and sympathies of all of us in the House go out to Azzam's family. No one in our society should have to suffer the loss of a child but the sad fact is it could have been anybody's child, with knife crime becoming more and more common. The case highlights the serious escalating problem with knife crime. We can look across the Irish Sea to see what is happening in Britain in this regard. The number of knives seized by gardaí here has risen by two thirds since 2016. A total of 264 knives were seized by the Garda in the first six weeks of this year alone. The family of the late Azzam have stated, very heroically, that they are resting their faith in the Irish justice system to hold the perpetrators to account. Does the Taoiseach see the issue of knife crime as a particular menacing situation that needs to be addressed? What specific plans does he have to tackle it?

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