Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 December 2004
307 Mr. F. McGrath asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if it is the policy to ignore petty crime in the community; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that most citizens have no confidence in reporting so-called petty crime; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33021/04]
View answerThe Government is strongly committed to the reduction of all crime levels in this country through strong and effective crime prevention methods. The Garda Síochána actively encourages people who are victims of any crime to report the offence to the gardaí.
A number of established initiatives pursue this policy. These include Crimestoppers, the Garda confidential telephone line, the "Crimecall" TV programme and Victim Support. The Garda Síochána has also taken steps in partnership with local areas to encourage crime prevention. I am informed by the Garda authorities that there are sufficient measures in place to facilitate the reporting of all offences. These measures include 999 emergency calls, phone calls to Garda stations, visits to Garda stations and the availability of gardaí on mobile and beat patrols. The Garda Síochána public attitude survey 2004 indicates a 79% rate for the reporting of crime, which is high by international standards.
While there are general claims of under reporting of crime, there is no evidence that the level of under reporting now is any greater than in the past or that the proportion of unreported crime in Ireland is any greater than in other jurisdictions. The problems of unreported and unrecorded crime are well documented in the international criminological literature and are in no way unique to this country. Furthermore, the introduction of PULSE has improved the accuracy and comprehensiveness of Garda statistics — for example, the system demands that incidents now have to be recorded before particular actions can be taken.
Steps are, however, being taken to obtain a more accurate estimate of the level of victimisation in Ireland. Following a recommendation of the national crime council, I obtained Government approval to conduct crime victimisation surveys on a regular basis. Following the submission to me in July by the expert group on crime statistics of its recommendations, I decided that the Central Statistics Office would take over responsibility for carrying out these surveys. The surveys will enable us better to understand why some victims chose not to report cases to the Garda and what can be done to reduce the level of under reporting.
