At least 1,400 victims of assault or unprovoked attacks were treated in Dublin hospitals for injuries since the beginning of the year, according to new statistics.
The figures show that between January 1st and the end of July the Adelaide and Meath Hospital treated 741 patients for assault injuries, Beaumont Hospital treated 353 for assault while St Columcille's Hospital in Loughlinstown treated 51 for "unprovoked attacks".
The Mater Hospital said it had treated 10 to 11 cases of unprovoked attacks in casualty each week, with an increase during holiday weekends.
There were no figures available for Tallaght Hospital, St James's or St Vincent's.
The Eastern Regional Health Authority said not all accident and emergency departments were computerised and therefore detailed information regarding specific admissions was not available in all cases.
The figures were released yesterday to the Fine Gael spokeswoman on social, community and family affairs, Ms Frances Fitzgerald, who sought the information from the Minister for Health. She said she was "shocked". Ms Fitzgerald called on the Government to establish a register of unprovoked attacks in every regional health authority and Garda station in the State so trends could be identified. She will raise the issue at the next meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on Justice.
"This should then be followed by a plan of action, co-ordinated by the gardai in association with the Departments of Health and Justice," Ms Fitzgerald said. The plan should involve improving the transport system, improving street lighting, and providing more street patrols.
The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, told Ms Fitzgerald in the Dail on April 18th that a total of 27 unprovoked attacks on males under 25 years were recorded by the gardai for the first three months of the year.
"This is clearly incorrect when compared with figures given by the accident and emergency units of Dublin's major hospitals," Ms Fitzgerald told The Irish Times.
The Labour Party spokesman on justice, Mr Brendan Howlin, said an urgent response was needed from the Minister to the upsurge in violent crime.
"John O'Donoghue came to office promising to herald in an era of zero tolerance. However, in the past 12 months in particular we have witnessed an upsurge in gangland crime and racist attacks, especially in Dublin.
"The Minister for Justice has contented himself with making absurd claims about crimes rates in this country returning to 1950s levels.
"The spate of vicious attacks over the weekend should shake the Minister out of his self-satisfied complacency. What is needed from the Minister is not rhetoric, but a comprehensive response to the growing incidence of violent crime," Mr Howlin added