James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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We are all sadly very conscious of the effect that knife crime can have on the quality of life for local communities and I can assure the Deputy that the Government is committed to supporting An Garda Síochána to tackle this issue. While I am conscious that Ireland has a comparatively low level of knife crime compared to neighbouring jurisdictions, every incident where a person is stabbed is a very serious matter.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Anti-Social Behaviour Forum was established arising from a commitment in the Programme for Government in 2021 to set up a special expert forum on anti-social behaviour, to consider the effectiveness of existing legislation and propose new ways forward including new powers for An Garda Síochána and additional interventions to support parenting of offenders.

An Anti-Social Behaviour Forum (ASB) knife crime subgroup was established in 2021. The subgroup has assessed the available evidence to inform policy on knife crime and has made a number of recommendations, including the introduction of longer sentences for those convicted of more serious knife crime offences in Ireland.

I recently brought these recommendations to Government and received approval to increase a number of the available penalties for knife crime.

As a result, I am proposing to increase the penalties in sections 9(5), 10, 11, and 12 of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act 1990, as follows:

Section 9(1): possession of a knife in a public place, to remain at a maximum penalty of 5 years.

Section 9(5): possession with intent to unlawfully cause injury, to increase the maximum penalty of 5 years to 7 years.

Section 10: trespassing with a knife, weapon of offence or other article, to increase the maximum penalty of 5 years to 7 years.

Section 11: production of an article capable of inflicting serious injury (to unlawfully intimidate another person), to increase the maximum penalty of 5 years to 7 years.

Section 12: the manufacture, importation, sale, hire or loan of offensive weapons, to increase the maximum penalty of 7 years to 10 years.

This is in accordance with the spirit of the Deputy’s Private Members Bill, but places a greater focus and target on those who possess and/or produce knives with an intent to use them or to intimidate or harm another person, rather than simple possession. It also ensures consistency and proportionality with other relevant offences, such as where harm is actually caused through the use of a knife, or firearm.