A judge has said he wholeheartedly supports the call for a special offence to be introduced to prosecute those who attack emergency workers.
Judge Michael Connellan made his comments while sentencing a 29-year-old Dublin woman to 10 months imprisonment for biting and kicking a nurse in the Mater's A & E Unit last December.
He said people will have to learn to conduct themselves in hospital and that he supports the Garda Representative Association's call for special legislation.
Garda sergeants and inspectors are expected to add their voice to the call for the creation of the new criminal offence.
Delegates at the Annual Conference of the AGSI, which begins in Kilkenny this evening, want the offence created under the Offences Against the Persons Act and those accused of it tried under indictment if necessary.
They also want a senior garda officer to be able to certify that certain people, such as the elderly or mentally disabled, have been victims of crime in cases where these people may not be able to give evidence of that fact.
70 motions are due to be debated over the next three days.
These include calls for training for gardaí when dealing with informers, separate custodial facilities for juveniles in garda stations, a decision by members to stop using their own mobile phones for work, and a call by members to allow garda stations to be used as one-stop shops.
They also want the District Court in future to sit for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and to have national jurisdiction to conduct criminal proceedings.
