Burglaries fall steeply during 12 months to September

The number of burglaries recorded by gardaí fell more than 31 per cent in the 12 months to the end of September, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has said.

A total of 19,562 burglaries were logged in the period, 8,857 fewer than in the previous 12 months, the figures show.

The number of sexual offences recorded was up 6.6 per cent to 2,446 compared to the previous 12 months, although this could be down to an increase in the reporting of attacks rather than an increase in attacks taking place.

The figure for dangerous or negligent acts increased 4.9 per cent – largely driven by an increase of 6 per cent in the number of drink-driving incidents.

Spike in prison inmate deaths last year with 22 fatalities

---

A third of prisoners who died in last 10 years were on release

---

Three-quarters of inmates in North have a mental health or addiction issue

---

Society is measured in part by how it treats its prisoners

---

In a statement Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald said it was "simply not acceptable" for anyone to drink and drive as "no one can say they are unaware of the potential consequences".

“No more families should have to needlessly experience this time of year as one of great sadness and loss.”

Overall, nine out of the 14 crime categories showed decreases.

Break-ins

Reducing burglaries has been a major focus for the Garda this year after the activity was one of the few areas of criminality that continued to increase during the recession. The force’s Operation Thor has involved gardaí increasing checkpoints and moving against gangs believed to be involved in large numbers of break-ins.

Ms Fitzgerald said it was “encouraging” that the regional breakdown of the CSO figures shows that Operation Thor is benefitting communities right across the country. “Burglary is a terrible and invasive crime, and we will continue this crackdown.”

The CSO pointed out that although there was a drop of 1.1 per cent nationally in the number of assaults, harassments, and threats or attempts to murder, there was an increase of 4.2 per cent in these incidents in the Dublin metropolitan area.

Drug offences

Controlled drug offences were down 6.8 per cent in the capital, but figures for the State as a whole were up 4.3 per cent as a result of increases of 32.6 per cent and 19.6 per cent respectively in the eastern and southeastern regions.

The figures for theft and robbery offences were down 14.6 per cent and 11.1 per cent respectively. There were also considerable drops in damage to property and to the environment (down 15.7 per cent), as well as for weapons and explosives offences (down 12.5 per cent).

In the five-year period to the end of September, the number of offences against government, justice procedures, and organisation of crime increased by 20 per cent from 9,721 to 11,661. There was a drop of 33.1 per cent in public order and other social code offences in the same time.