Vol. 497 No. 4
27 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will provide details of the crime rate for every 100,000 head of population in Ireland; if he will provide comparative statistics for each OECD country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25166/98]
I have been informed by the Garda authorities that the information requested by the Deputy in relation to each member state of the OECD is not readily available, and could only be obtained by the use of a disproportionate amount of staff time and resources. I would advise the Deputy, however, that there are difficulties in making precise comparisons between countries because of differing legal systems, traditions, definitions, reporting and recording practices. These factors combine to influence the situation. Statistics for the USA and EU member states are, however, contained at pages 43 and 44 of the annual report of An Garda Síochána for 1997, copies of which are available in the Oireachtas Library. It is apparent from the data that Ireland's position compares very favourably with our European partners, and that our crime rates are significantly below those in the USA.
