Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 January 2026
760. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of incidents nationwide of Gardaí presenting to schools due to a weapon being found on a student, in each of the past five years. [6274/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI strongly condemn the use of knives and other weapons to threaten, intimidate or harm others. I am committed to ensuring that communities are safe and tackling knife crime is an important element of that.
Long term, evidence-based strategies are needed that address knife crime as part of a wider strategic response to anti-social behaviour, street violence, youth offending and domestic violence.
My Department is progressing targeted interventions through youth diversion projects that work directly with young offenders across the country, and, at a wider community level, through the roll out of Local Community Safety Partnerships in all Local Authority areas.
I am also assured that Gardaí will continue with their proactive measures to tackle this issue, including their assault reduction strategy, which is targeted at tackling all types of assaults in public, including use of knives and other weapons. This strategy is informed by a pro-arrest, early investigation, and proactive high-visibility approach.
The below table, provided by the Garda Síochána Analysis Service (GSAS) provides an annual count of reported incidents of Possession of a Weapon/Firearm where location type was ‘School Building’ or ‘School Grounds’ over the last 5 years:
|
Incident Type |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
|
Possession of Offensive Weapon/Firearm |
11 |
13 |
18 |
16 |
31 |
The Garda authorities have further advised there is no structured field available on PULSE to definitively identify that a person is a student and therefore the suspect offender cannot be identified specifically as a student.
