Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In recent weeks we have heard a lot about spiking - the Leader has made public statements on it - whether it is by needles or putting something into the drinks of people who are out in public socialising and doing their thing, having been allowed to be out in public again after such a long time. I have looked at this issue. Some of the early messaging that came out on it from the HSE and other groups was to tell young women that they needed to be careful and they needed to watch their drinks.

As the Leader said in a public statement a week or so ago, that has been the case for a very long time but it is the wrong approach. We need to look at the perpetrators rather than the victims of this kind of behaviour. In the past number of days I have spoken to a number of young people, and I was quite struck by those, young women in particular, who told me they are not now going out because they are afraid of what might happen to them if they do. It is an intolerable position for us to be in that in a developed modern country, young women in particular feel they cannot go out and enjoy themselves the same as their male counterparts because of this kind of thing.It is important that we send out the message to people who are thinking about doing this, particularly any men who are thinking about doing this, and who believe they might get away with it that it is against the law. We do not need new legislation because legislation was passed almost 25 years ago by the then Minister for Justice, Ms Nora Owen. Section 2 of the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act 1997 makes provisions in respect of assault, which is a minor offence. More importantly, though, section 6 deals specifically with syringes being used to injure someone. It is clearly an offence. On indictment, it carries a penalty of up to ten years imprisonment. The House should be sending out the clear message that not only is this activity not acceptable and grossly unreasonable, but it is seriously criminal and carries serious penalties. I am not sure that some of the people involved in this activity understand the criminal liability to which they are exposing themselves. I wonder whether we can consider having a debate on the matter.