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

It is excellent to hear it is making such swift progress. As I said, it will be unanimously welcomed in the House, I would imagine. I welcome the amendments. For some time, we have needed tougher legislation to crack down on criminals who seriously attack the very people who put their own personal safety on the line every day to serve others. The most recent incident with a full-time worker involved a prison officer being very seriously attacked in Mountjoy, which left him with very serious injuries. In fact, I know of two prison officers in Cork who have recently been assaulted and, unfortunately, they are both still out of work. Recent figures indicate that assaults on prison officers in particular have increased by 46% between 2021 and 2022. Are there any other measures the Minister is looking at, given these increased attacks on emergency workers and front-line workers?

Will the Minister clarify to whom "emergency cohorts" refers?

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