I ask the Taoiseach if the Government would consider introducing a new weapons amnesty. The Taoiseach will recall that he was a member of a Cabinet that introduced an amnesty in 2006. That took hundreds of lethal weapons off the streets at the time - everything from shotguns to knives to all sorts of devices. I am very concerned about the level of knife crime in this city and throughout the country, currently. I feel that an amnesty would take many of those weapons off the streets but also, more importantly, it would create an awareness and discussion of the issue. It would lead to people, and young people in particular, being better educated on the dangers of carrying knives.

In the 15 years since the last amnesty, which was very progressive at the time, many more weapons, and firearms in particular, have come into the country. The introduction of an amnesty may be an opportunity to take them off the streets. Every weapon that we can take off the streets and put out of use is good work.

First, I think that is a very constructive proposition by the Deputy. I do recall the amnesty 15 years ago. I will engage with the Minister for Justice in respect of the Deputy's proposal. Obviously, the Minister for Justice will take advice from the Garda Commissioner.

There is a real concern in relation to the rise of knife crime in our communities at the moment, particularly in certain communities. That has to be a cause for concern. We do need to see what are the more innovative and creative ways of dealing with that. One of them could be the amnesty.