Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday, the Taoiseach told Deputy McDonald there was a robust legal framework to deal with knife crime, suggesting there were no gaps in the powers that gardaí have to address this serious crime. Nor did the Minister for Justice, Deputy O’Callaghan, suggest there were any gaps in the legislation until last night, when he indicated new laws would need to be introduced to give gardaí greater powers to stop and search people they suspect of carrying knives. Can the Taoiseach or the Minister tell the Dáil when the Government became aware that existing knife crime powers were not adequate to deal with the issue? Was the issue raised with them by members of the Garda or was the Government aware of this deficiency when it championed its previous legislation that it told us addressed this issue? Will the Government now accept that no amount of new laws will cover up for the fact that we simply do not have enough gardaí on the streets of our cities and towns?

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