Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am not hung up on the idea of a knife amnesty. It was just something I wanted to tease out. We need a change in culture among young and not so young people to ensure the carrying of a knife is simply not acceptable in our society, is not needed and leads to harm. I am interested in listening to public awareness campaigns. I spoke to the Minister in a committee meeting earlier about a public awareness campaign around the migration pact. We cannot have a public awareness campaign about everything, but if young people using knives for self-protection or as part of some kind of fashion trend whereby a knife makes a person more manly, that presents a growing menace in Irish society. Is there something we need to do in terms of a wider campaign? This is not just about stiffer sentences, but having a wider conversation through the mediums available to the Department of Justice to try to change the culture.

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