Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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501. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons convicted for possession of knives and other articles under section 9(1) Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act 1990 in 2020, 2021 and to date in 2022, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3419/22]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I condemn in the strongest possible terms any form of assault or use of a knife or other weapon to threaten and intimidate. Violent crime such as this has no place in our society.

I would appeal to anyone who believes that carrying or using any form of weapon, be it a knife, or even a fist, is justified, to stop and think of the lasting damage and consequences of those decisions. Even if you believe that you are protecting yourself, the lasting impact of an assault is felt long after the blow is struck.

As the Deputy may be aware, I chair the expert Forum on Anti-Social Behaviour and as part of the Forum’s work, I have established a sub-group to look at interventions and responses to the issue of knife crime. This group is composed of myself, officials from my Department, youth and community organisations, the Probation Service, Gardaí and local authorities.

Initially the group’s work is focused on understanding the existing evidence on the effectiveness of measures to address knife crime and the reasons why some people carry weapons. We are examining a range of approaches, including using a public health model and also reviewing legislation to see how it might support more effective responses.

I should note that this is not a simple issue to address and we have to balance the strong impulse to react based on our shared outrage at violent crimes with a careful consideration of the best available evidence on what is most likely to yield improvements in our law, our policies and their practical implementation. My overriding concern is that we pursue the actions which have the best chance of being effective and making a real difference.

The work of the group is ongoing but I expect it to conclude in the next few months. I think it is clear that measures to address knife crime are part of the overall response to violent crime. It should be noted, of course, that knife crime is not a “youth crime” issue, although that is one aspect of it, but perpetrators come from all age groups, including a significant number in domestic situations.

There is a comprehensive and robust legal framework in place in Ireland with respect to knife crime, including heavy penalties for breaches of the laws concerned. Indeed, the maximum penalty in the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act 1990 for a conviction for possessing a knife in a public place without good reason or lawful authority was increased from one to five years in an amendment introduced via the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009.

I have contacted the Courts Service and have been advised of the figures in the below table for the number of persons convicted under Section 9(1) of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act 1990 (as amended). It should be noted that the number of total convictions differs to the number of persons as a person may be convicted on multiple counts, and therefore this information is included for the Deputy's information.

I have been advised that the Courts Service can only provide data in relation to where offence codes provided on the system were used by prosecutors. Prosecutors may have used uncoded free text offences and any such offences would not be included in the data provided.

I have also been advised that it is not possible to provide statistics for 2022 to date at present.