Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is no laissez-faire. Níl sé sin fíor. We have a robust legal framework to deal with knife crime. As I said, in September we increased the maximum penalty. There is a proactive policing operation to seize knives. There has been an increase in the number of knives being seized each year and that proactivity will continue. Again, we have to support the Garda. We have to give more resources. There is good CCTV of the violent disorder in South Anne Street, for example, but our Garda force should be able to use facial recognition technology. That was opposed in the previous Oireachtas. I hope the Opposition will support the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, when we bring legislation of that type forward and other legislation designed to strengthen gardaí on the front line, especially body-worn cameras, the proof-of-concept phase of which is under way in Dublin, Waterford and Limerick.

We want to roll these out to all gardaí on the front line. There has not always been a welcome for such measures in this House, if the truth be told, but there will be total proactivity. Numbers have increased by 40% in the Dublin metropolitan area over the past-----

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