Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for the response. As I am sure he and others are aware, there have been a number of incidents in Cork city and county over the past 12 months in which particularly heinous crimes were committed with knives. Many of these incidents involved physical and sexual assault, as well as serious harm caused to victims. Will the Minister of State clarify if there is any intention to bring forward a knife amnesty for certain types of blades or other implements that could be taken off the streets, akin to the "bin the blade" campaign run by the Government in the 1990s? In the UK recently, over 20,000 knives were taken off the streets in a similar amnesty so is there a Government intention to bring forward a similar plan?

See this speech in context