Justice Minister Helen McEntee has revealed more than half of spiking incidents reported to gardai so far this year have been with needles.
Minister McEntee was launching an awareness campaign on Wednesday morning with Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris and representatives from the Union of Students of Ireland.
Ms McEntee said “it’s very clear that this is poisoning” and an offender can face up to three years in prison under the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act.
She said: “Whatever your motivation, spiking someone is a crime with serious potential consequences for the victim and perpetrator.
“Anyone who may have been a victim of a spiking or a witness – to a drink being spiked or to an assault or sexual assault – is urged to report it to the gardai.”
When asked if the Government would consider increasing the penalty on spiking to act as a deterrent Ms McEntee said she thinks the three year penalty is “quite severe.”
She said: “At the moment the penalty is three years or up to three years in prison under the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act.
“I think what's important as well is that we have for the first time in recent years defined what consent means.
“And so on the Sexual Offences Act, a person cannot commit, or can’t consent to a sexual act if they're intoxicated, if they're unconscious or if they're asleep.
“So we've set out very clear parameters in the law that didn't exist before now and I think the penalty of three years is quite a severe penalty in this instance.”
Ms McEntee said the Garda Pulse system from January to November of this year shows 46 incidents reported under the heading of spiking.
She said 25 of those have specifically mentioned needles or syringes of some form and the rest of them are more general spiking with drinks.
She said the reported incidents are being taken "very seriously" and said the more data gardai have then the government can look to see if a number of measures such as tougher sentences need to be introduced.
She said: “If there's more work, if there's more engagement, if there's tougher sentences, whatever it is that we need to do data is really helpful.”
She said the blame or focus should not at all be placed on the victim.
Minister Simon Harris encouraged people working in night life environments not to “presume that they’re drunk and send them on their way.”
He added: “As we come up to the Christmas period, if you’re out for a few drinks and maybe feel a little bit more drunk than you should as a result of what you’ve drank.
“Maybe you feel like you’re going to vomit, your vision is blurred, or you feel dizzy, you could have been spiked and make sure you’re not on your own.”
