A range of new criminal offences, as well as tougher sentences for existing offences, come into effect from today.
The offences include measures targeting violent and organised crime, violence against Gardai and other emergency service workers, and measures to support victims and punish perpetrators of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.
The new measures have been welcomed today by the National Ambulance Service Representative Association, who say the increase in sentencing is something they have been campaigning for for years.
Fianna Fail Senator Lisa Chambers says these measures have not come before time, in particular, the new sentences surrounding stalking and non fatal strangulation.
She told Midwest Radio's Alannah Nolan more about the new measures and if she believes it may help deter crime in the country....
