“Extra Garda resources need to be deployed to the Tallaght area with a proactive approach to tackling knife crime.  We need to tackle the culture that sees young people carrying knifes on them as they go about there lives.

“I would propose a knife crime awareness and education campaign which would include a type of knife amnesty for the Tallaght area that has been popular in other areas before, where young people are encouraged to give up their weapons to Gardaí without fear of being charged for carrying the weapon.

“If we can take a chunk of these weapons off the streets then we will be going some way to solving the problem.  But we must also, at the same time, educate our young people on the dangers of carrying knifes.”