Those who assault gardaí or other emergency workers could face 12 years in prison.
The maximum sentence is currently seven years, but the Department of Justice is looking at increasing it to tackle crime levels.
However, there are calls to avoid introducing tougher penalties in isolation.
Justice Minister Simon Harris says it's very important to deter these types of attacks:
I think it is really important, After engaging with Garda representative bodies, that we now amend the law to make the maximum sanction more severe then it currently is.
At the moment it is a 7 year maximum sentence, I want to increase that to 12 years. That's an opportunity to send out a very clear message from the oireachtas.
But we also know that when you increase max sentences, it increases upwards pressures in terms of of the sentences someone is likely to see from the court.
