asked the Minister for Justice if he will give details of the number of bicycles reported stolen in the Dublin area over the past year; and the percentage found and returned to or claimed by their owners.
Written Answers. - Stolen Bicycles.
156.
Limerick East): The total number of larcenies and unauthorised taking of pedal cycles in the Dublin Metropolitan Area (DMA) during 1984 — the latest 12 month period for which figures are available — was 11,188. A total of 1,615 stolen or missing pedal cycles were recovered by the Garda in the DMA during the same year. This figure represents 14.4 per cent of the total reported taken during 1984; 593 pedal cycles were returned to their owners during the same year. This figure represents 5.3 per cent of the total reported taken and 36.7 per cent of the total recovered.
The Garda authorities say that the low proportion of the pedal cycles recovered which are returned to their owners is explained by the fact that many cycle owners neglect to keep a record of the frame number of their machines and are unable to give proper descriptive particulars when they report them stolen.