Tánaiste highlights continuing Garda success in targeting property crime and welcomes latest CSO review of quality of crime statistics
 

28 September 2016
 

Speaking on publication of the CSO Official Recorded Crime Statistics for Quarter 2 of 2016 Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald commended the continuing concentrated and robust response to criminals from An Garda Síochána. 


Commenting on the figures the Tánaiste said "The continuing success in tackling burglary offences is testament to the work being done by An Garda Síochána in targeting and tackling these criminal gangs under Operation Thor. This work continues to be strongly supported by the Government through the enhanced resources now available to support Operation Thor which is having a real impact on the ground in dealing with these crimes."


The CSO figures show very significant reductions in property crime over the twelve months ending 30 June 2016, with 


Burglary down 26.3%
Robbery down 11.1%
Theft down 12.3%


Other notable decreases included


Homicide down 3.2%
Weapons and Explosives Offences down 11.7%
And Public order offences down 5.1%


However the Tánaiste expressed concern at increases in Assault and related offences, up 4% and Sexual Offences, up 13%.


Referring to the increase in Sexual Offences the Tánaiste said “It is clear that we as a society cannot tolerate such crimes. More needs to be done and I am determined to meet this challenge head on. The passing of the Criminal Law Sexual Offences Bill is a priority for me in this Dáil session and the National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence, 2016 – 2021 which I launched earlier this year provides a framework for ongoing efforts to engage people in a positive way, so that we can challenge unacceptable behaviour and tackle sexual crimes as well as domestic violence."


Speaking on Garda recruitment and modernisation, the Tánaiste said "I remain strongly committed to the programme of Garda recruitment which aims to increase the overall strength of the Force to 15,000 alongside a process of modernisation and investment in effective policing. This will provide a modern police service which can continue to tackle crime effectively and efficiently".


The Tánaiste also welcomed the publication today of the second CSO review of the Quality of Crime Statistics, and she thanked the CSO for their continuing work to provide reassurance in relation to the Official Crime Statistics.


The ongoing work to improve the quality of crime data follows on the Report of the Garda Inspectorate on Crime Investigation which highlighted deficiencies in the recording and classification of incidents on the PULSE system. 


The CSO previously published a review of data quality in June 2015 and today's publication shows that while significant progress has been made in relation to the classification of crime incidents and recording of detections there is still work to be done to improve recording procedures. 


The Tánaiste commented "I welcome the fact that the CSO conclude that the estimated impact of these issue on recorded crime is substantially less than was the case for the first review. I am determined that a strong focus remain on the need for improvements in this area.


It will take time for the full effect of the upgrading Garda systems to be reflected in the Crime Statistics. The Government remains committed to supporting this work and this is underlined by the €205 million allocated under the Capital Plan 2016-2021.


I welcome the fact that, while that work is under way, the CSO are in a position to continue to publish crime statistics. The need for improvements in this area should not detract from the comparative assessment of statistics which shows a real and significant reduction under a number of headings."



ENDS