A decline in serious crime including assaults, murder and drug offences in the first half of this year has been welcomed by the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell.
Reported crime fell by 7 per cent overall in the first six months of 2003, compared to the same period last year, while serious assaults were down by almost a third.
However, the decreases in many crimes contained in provisional Garda statistics issued by Mr McDowell yesterday follow two consecutive years when reported crime increased significantly. Yesterday's statistics show almost a doubling of sexual offences against minors and a 20 per cent increase in theft from the person.
Opposition politicians, while welcoming the decreases, questioned the accuracy of the figures and said the current crime rate remained much higher than the level two years ago.
Mr McDowell also urged caution in drawing trends from the statistics, amid continuing concerns by gardaí two years ago about the effect on crime statistics of the Pulse computerised system.
The figures show "headline crime incidents" dipped by 7 per cent, from 55,402 reported incidents between January and June 2002 to 51,363 in the corresponding period this year.
Offences recorded as "headline crime" include murder, assault, sexual offences, arson, drugs, larcenies, burglaries, robberies and fraud as well as more minor crimes such as bicycle theft.
A total of 25 murders were reported in the first half of this year, compared to 28 for the corresponding period last year. Incidents of theft from the person increased by 20 per cent, from 2,840 in the first half of 2002 to 3,404 this year.
However, theft overall was down by 5 per cent, from 10,741 reported offences for the six-month period last year to 10,226 this year. There was also a 6 per cent fall in burglaries.
Sexual assaults dropped by 25 per cent, from 1,153 to 870, while serious assault fell by 30 per cent, from 2,805 to 1,977.
Mr McDowell particularly welcomed this decrease in the number of assaults causing harm, as it runs counter to the "worrying trend" in 2001 and 2002. The fall in assaults may be in part due to a change in patterns of alcohol consumption, including a reduction in alcohol sales, he said.
The Minister said he believed there had been an improvement in the public order situation and that the public has "sobered up" to the problem.
The figures show a 25 per cent decrease in sexual assaults, from 1,153 in the first half of 2002 to 870 in the corresponding period this year. There was also a 16 per cent decrease in reported female rape, from 223 to 188.
However, there was a 46 per cent increase in reported incidents of "unlawful carnal knowledge" which usually relates to sexual relations with a minor. This increase from 50 incidents in the first half of last year to 73 for the same period this year is a trend which the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre said yesterday it had also noticed.
Ms Muireann Ó Briain, the centre's chief executive, attributed much of this increase to a greater willingness to report such cases.
Fine Gael's spokesman on justice, Mr John Deasy, welcomed the figures but said the current crime rate was still well above 2001 levels.
Drop in crime not as good as it looks: page 4
Editorial comment: page 15