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Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 19 May 1988

Vol. 380 No. 9

Written Answers. - Stolen Vehicles.

14.

asked the Minister for Justice the number of vehicles which were stolen in the Dublin Metropolitan area to date this year; the number of vehicles taken in the same area in the years 1985-87 inclusive; and if a pattern has emerged, his views on the underlying factors.

It is assumed that the question is intended to include vehicles taken without the owner's consent even though this is not stealing in the legal sense.

Two hundred and fifty-three motor vehicles were stolen in the Dublin metropolitan area in the first three months of 1988. The figures for the full years 1985, 1986 and 1987 were 1,331, 1,315 and 1,168 respectively. In addition, there were 1,980 unauthorised takings of motor vehicles during the first three months of 1988 while the figures for the full years 1985, 1986 and 1987 were 11,327, 9,280 and 7,257 respectively. In all cases classified as "unauthorised takings" the vehicles involved were recovered.

These statistics indicate that there is a marked decrease in the number of vehicles taken in the DMA in the past few years — the number of unauthorised takings in 1987 was about half the 1984 figure. This decrease is due in large part to certain special measures which were introduced to deal with the problem. These measures, which include intensified Garda mobile patrols and the enactment of certain legislative provisions, have contributed to a high level of arrest and subsequent charging and imprisonment of offenders.

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