Vehicle-related crimes, including cars being stolen, are running at almost double the level official trends have for years suggested. And the problem is being driven by break-ins rather than cars and other vehicles being stolen.
Gardaí are concerned at an increase in vehicles being stolen by opportunistic, mostly very young so-called joyriders, and also by organised gangs who steal cars for dismantling before exporting them for sale as parts.
Those two issues have combined to result in vehicle thefts reaching their highest level for more than a decade. Vehicle thefts surged to a 10-year high in 2023, with some 4,976 recorded cases across the State. That figure was up 21 per cent on 2022 and 40 per cent above 2019’s total.
Last year, the number of cars and other vehicles, including motorbikes, being stolen further increased, though at a slower rate. They were up 6 per cent in 2024, when 5,207 vehicle thefts were reported to the Garda.
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The Central Statistics Office (CSO) processes and publishes the Republic’s crime data, every quarter, based on raw data provided by the Garda. Vehicle-related crimes are defined as “theft/taking of vehicle and related offences”. This includes the theft of vehicles and “interfering with” them, usually in an attempt to steal them.
There were 7,919 theft/taking of vehicle and related offences last year, the highest level since 2012, of which 5,207 were thefts of vehicles. However, the theft of items from vehicles, usually after they have been broken in to, is not included in the official figures for vehicle-related thefts.
Information supplied to The Irish Times by the CSO reveals there were 7,796 thefts from vehicles last year and 7,351 in 2023, almost doubling the volume of vehicle crime compared with that reflected in official statistics.
The CSO clarified that the crime of “theft from a vehicle” is contained in its quarterly crime updates. However, the data is included in general “theft offences” figures and is not classified as a vehicle-related offence. Gardaí say many cars are being broken in to outside people’s homes, often by opportunistic criminals looking for money or goods they can sell, including clothing.
Garda sources told The Irish Times that Russian-speaking mafia groups have gained a foothold in organised crime in the Republic and that some of those gangs are buying stolen vehicles, which they dismantle and quickly export. Gardaí are concerned at the growing problem, saying many of the vehicles are stolen within seconds from outside their owners’ homes.
They are using technology that enables them to hijack a car fob inside a target’s home. The signal from the fob is activated and amplified, which enables a criminal to open the vehicle and drive away. The vehicles are then driven a long distance before being parked in locations such as shopping centre car parks. The organised gangs who buy the cars are informed of their location and collect them using a tow truck.
In other cases, younger criminals – often teenagers – are roaming around housing estates stealing from vehicles and also driving away in some of them. That crime type has been facilitated by the increased popularity of Japanese imports, which are mostly not fitted with immobiliser devices. Immobilisers prevent cars being hot-wired – being started without the key.
