Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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1137. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of times members of An Garda Síochána seized knives in each of the past ten years, in tabular form. [1729/23]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended), the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of Garda business, including all operational policing matters. As Minister, I play no role in these independent functions.

To be of assistance to the Deputy, I have contacted the Garda Authorities for the information requested and I have been advised that for the years in question, the number of knives seized by An Garda Síochána are as follows:

A search of the PULSE database was conducted on 10 January 2023 to identify any object of sub-type ‘knife’ linked as ‘seized’ with any incident reported nationwide since 1 January 2013. Figures are based upon operational data from the PULSE system as was available on 10 January 2023 and are liable to change.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that the 2016-2018 increase in recorded seizures is due in large part to the introduction of the Property and Exhibit Management System (PEMS) in 2016, which improved the level of recording of all objects seized, including knives. The increase may also be partly attributed to the increase in frontline resources due to additional recruitment and redeployment of members following the reopening of the Garda College in 2015.

Additionally, increases in seizures in recent years are also due to proactive policing operations, particularly during 2020, with the increased Garda presence in support of the COVID-19 public health measures. There was a 5.3% increase in the number of knives seized between 2019 and 2020 (2,146 in 2019 and 2,257 in 2020).

There was also a substantial year-on-year increase in the number of searches conducted in 2020, many of which were associated with An Garda Síochána’s high visibility operations supporting the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated Garda operations (such as Operation Fanacht).