Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 81: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when he will bring the promised legislative reforms before Dáil Éireann to deal with the increase in knife crime; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7587/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Though legislation on the use of knives and similar weapons is already very strong and heavy penalties are already in place, I am moving to strengthen the law in this area. In that context, I sought and received proposals from the Garda Commissioner to assist his force in tackling knife-crime. These include: increasing the penalties for possessing a knife in a public place; creating an extended power of search without warrant in certain circumstances, and the introduction of a prohibition in relation to swords. I have accepted these proposals and at the launch of the knife crime awareness campaign on 5 February 2009 I announced that the proposals will be included in the forthcoming Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill.

Amongst the provisions are: increasing the maximum prison sentence for possessing a knife in a public place from one year to five years and an extended power of search without warrant in circumstances where a member of An Garda Síochána has reasonable grounds to suspect a person is carrying any article for unlawful purposes. Drafting of the Bill is now almost complete, and the Government have agreed to treat it as a priority measure for this Dáil session. In addition to these measures, I have directed the drafting of a new Firearms and Offensive Weapons Order which will deal with the issue of swords.