Report shows Irish crime figures declining

Although criminal activity in the State is on the decline, only 25 per cent of all crimes are reported to the Garda, the first report on crime in Ireland has shown.

The study was carried out by the Institute of Criminology at University College Dublin for the National Crime Council and measured criminal activity from 1950 to 1998. It noted that crime in the State ‘peaked’ in the 1980s.

The Council noted that in the absence of a regular national crime victimisation survey, the ‘dark figure’ or unreported level of crime was estimated to be three times higher than recorded figures.

It found that offences against property were the most frequent crimes with up to 700 burglaries per 100,000 of the population.

The eircom PhoneWatch burglary 2001 report also released today reported the number of burglaries across the country had decreased this year, but the number in the Dublin area had risen by 20 per cent.

According to the report, Dublin suffers from the greatest number of burglaries in the country (46 per cent).

The National Crime Council study also revealed that crime rates varied sharply in different parts of the country with by far the highest rate found in Dublin. Twelve out of every 1,000 Dublin residents were victims of burglary compared with only 3 in the western region.

Murder and manslaughter cases have increased steadily over the course of the 50 year study with 38 recorded in 1998, the report showed.

A sharp increase in reported sexual offences over the last 20 years could be as a result of increased reporting by victims. In 1998, there were 598 sexual assaults on males and females’ compared with 84 indecent assaults in 1950.

The majority of the 500,000 crimes recorded in 1998 were non-indictable – driving or alcohol offences – and only 17 per cent were for indictable offences.

The Minister for Justice Mr O'Donoghue welcomed the report and said it would raise public knowledge and awareness of the issue by making available up-to-date information on levels of crime in the country.

"For many years, the debate about crime in Ireland has been dogged by a lack of research and information. I am confident it will be welcomed by a wide variety of practitioners and policy-makers in the criminal justice system."

The study relied on the Garda Commissioner’s Report as a primary source but suggested that in future this include further detail on the rules used to gather statistics.

The National Crime Council also recommended that the Minister establish an independent expert group to examine how such data is collated.

Ireland has a comparatively low level of recorded crime with only Spain having a lower rate in the EU.