- Ø Burglary Offences continue downward trend with a reduction of 26.3%
- Ø Tánaiste welcomes continued success of Operation Thor
- Ø Tánaiste expresses determination to tackle sexual offences
- Ø Progress made in relation to the recording of crime but more needs
- to be done
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 Siochana.
Commenting on the figures the Tánaiste said “The continuing success in
tackling burglary offences is testament to the work being done by An Garda
Siochána 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 an 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 Domestic 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 Grada 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."