Lack of up-to-date knife crime statistics criticised as ‘quite incredible’

A lack of up-to-date statistics relating to crimes carried out with a knife has been criticised as “quite incredible” by Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín.

He made the remarks after Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan was unable to provide him with information on the number of arrests for carrying a knife or how many crimes were carried out with a knife over the last five years.

This is because there is no single category for knife crime, as distinct from crimes carried out with all kinds of weapons, in the Garda Pulse computer system.

The Garda analysis service is compiling overall statistics related to knife crime, the first such report since 2021.

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Mr O’Callaghan told Mr Tóibín that this will “provide further insight on the variety of contexts in which a knife may be a feature of an incident, including being used to threaten or to commit actual violence”.

He said it is anticipated that this report will be published in the coming months.

Mr Tóibín said “given the prevalence of knife crime and the large number of very serious and high-profile crimes committed with a knife, it’s quite incredible that knife crime is not even measured by the Government”.

He was provided with figures for the number of knives seized in the last five years, with 2,157 seized in 2024.

Mr Tóibín said: “The Government needs to get real about knife crime in Ireland. This needs to start with knowing what’s actually happening on the ground”.

In a statement to The Irish Times, the Department of Justice said: “The Government is committed to ensuring that communities are safe and tackling knife crime is an important element of that.”

It added: “There are no quick-fix solutions to tackling knife crime” and “long-term, evidence-based strategies are needed that address knife crime as part of a wider strategic response to antisocial behaviour, street violence, youth offending and domestic violence”.

It said there is a “a comprehensive and robust legal framework in place” in relation to knife crime including increased penalties for certain offences involving carrying knives and the doubling of the maximum penalty for assault causing harm.

A Garda statement said Operation Soteria, in place since 2019, is focused on the prevention of assaults and associated crimes, including knife crime.

It said the strategy “is a pro-arrest, early-investigation, proactive, high-visibility approach to assault reduction” and it “promotes early prosecution of offenders where feasible and appropriate”.

The Garda said the work being done to compile statistics on knife crime “is being carried out to inform Garda activity to prevent and detect such crimes”.

It also said: “An Garda Síochána, through its community policing ethos, continues to work with communities, groups and individuals to keep people safe.”

The Garda analysis of knife crime data from 2021 found “a reduction in the number of incidents where knives were involved ... between 2019 and 2020 – 1,534 in 2019 versus 1,333 in 2020.”

It also mentioned “The most recent available HSE data (2005-2019) shows a general decline in hospital discharges following an assault by knife since 2006”.

It added: “While there is no strong evidence to suggest that there has been any increase in crime incidents involving knives, the downward trend should not detract from the fact that there have been a number of very serious and fatal incidents in recent months”.