(Cavan): I will come to the Bill very quickly. During the discussion on that motion the former Minister for Local Government left the House in protest against something or another, alleging he had not been allowed to speak on the motion which, of course, was not correct. I might put on record that the same Minister left the House permanently under protest a few months later for an entirely different set of reasons.
At any rate, in those circumstances this measure, the Offensive Weapons Bill, 1970, was introduced by Deputy Cosgrave and myself and Deputy Cosgrave explained the general provisions of the Bill. Deputy Thornley spoke on behalf of the Labour Party and the former Minister for Justice, Deputy Moran, spoke on behalf of the Government. I had begun to conclude and, therefore, I do not intend to speak at any length on this occasion. It is a fact that since I last spoke five new Members have been introduced to the House and I may, therefore, be pardoned for saying briefly a few words about the Bill.
The Bill was introduced by Fine Gael in the light of many crimes of violence in the years immediately preceding its introduction—crimes of violence involving the use of knives and other lethal weapons, particularly in this city. In 1967 there were 31 assaults involving the use of knives, in 1968 there were 31 such assaults and in 1966 one death resulted from an assault involving the use of a knife. The people of the city of Dublin and the people of the country in general were very perturbed about the number of crimes involving the use of knives which had been committed in this city and throughout the country, and the Fine Gael Party campaigned very strongly for legislation which would put an end to this type of crime.
Indeed, when the infamous Criminal Justice Bill was introduced away back in 1967, the Fine Gael spokesman on Justice at that time offered to the Minister that we would give him several provisions in the Criminal Justice Bill dealing with the use of knives and other offensive weapons in a short Bill in this House in five minutes, but the Minister for Justice then did not agree to accept that offer and the matter dragged on, the offences continued. In order to deal with the matter, this party put down the Bill with which we are now dealing. It remained on the Order Paper for quite a time and was reached, as I have said, on 25th February, 1970.
Very briefly, the Bill proposes to outlaw the use of knives, flick knives and other such offensive weapons. It makes it an offence for any person to produce a knife or other article capable of inflicting serious injuries, in a dance hall, marquee, cinema, club or any premises in which food or drink is served, or at any sports festival, carnival or bazaar, to produce any knife other than an ordinary penknife.
