Concern was expressed about the level of violence in Tralee, Co Kerry, by Jimmy Deenihan (FG, Kerry North).
He said there had been a number of "vicious assaults" in the town in recent times.
"During the early hours of Saturday morning, a man was attacked by three others in the Strand Street area. In a separate incident, a man was assaulted in the Mary Street-Abbey car park area at approximately 12.30am on Sunday. Both victims were hospitalised.
"The mother of one of the victims spoke this week of her son's injuries, claiming that he had obtained a fractured cheek bone, bruising to an eye and cuts to the head which required stitches in what was a completely unprovoked attack. Of course, the psychological wounds, which cannot be seen so easily, are also very damaging." Mr Deenihan said that the victim of another unprovoked attack in Tralee came close to losing an eye.
He said residents along the old Tralee-Fenit railway line had been living in terror.
"Earlier this year, a cyclist in his 20s was assaulted on Killeen Road by two men brandishing weapons and wearing balaclavas. This man's assailants jumped from a car and began to beat him around the head and body with what was believed to be a baseball bat. The man sustained head injuries and was taken to Kerry General Hospital."
Minister of State for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Tony Killeen, deputising for the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice Michael McDowell, said the Minister was giving the highest priority to providing Garda resources to tackle and prevent crime. The personnel strength of the Kerry division on October 25th was 290, while at the end of 1997 it had been 230 in all ranks. This represented an increase of 26 per cent.
