Peadar Tóibín
Question:1007. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Justice the number of gardaí who have been assaulted while on duty in each of the past five years, and to date in 2023, in tabular form. [17769/23]
View answerTuesday, 18 April 2023
Questions (1007)
Written answers
We are all immensely grateful to members of our police service for their outstanding dedication and commitment to serving the public and for the important role that they play in our society.
For the most part, the relationship between Gardaí and the public is one built on very significant trust. We only have to look to the fact that An Garda Síochána is a largely unarmed, and yet hugely effective, community policing service.
As the Deputy will be aware, an assault on a member of An Garda Síochána, a prison officer, a member of the fire brigade, ambulance personnel, or a member of the Defence Forces is already an offence under section 19 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994.
A person convicted of such an offence is currently liable to a fine, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years, or both. The latter penalty was increased from a maximum term of 5 years in 2006.
However, the Government is committed to taking further action to protect Gardaí and frontline workers as necessary. To that end, I intend to bring forward an amendment to the Public Order Act to increase the maximum penalty available for assaulting a peace officer to 12 years.
These changes will send a very clear message that attacks on frontline workers will not be tolerated, and will be dealt with robustly.
The table below, furnished to me by the Garda authorities, outlines the number of Gardaí who have been assaulted while on active duty in the State in each year of the past five years and to date in 2023, as requested by the Deputy.
Number of Gardaí who reported sustaining an occupational injury as a result of being assaulted 2018 to Date (as of 14/04/2023)
|
Year |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
|
Number |
224 |
265 |
223 |
266 |
305 |
67 |