Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 October 2021
272. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice the areas throughout Ireland currently experiencing the highest and the lowest crime levels by each Garda divisional district; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51935/21]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, the detection of and response to any criminal activity is an operational function for the Garda Commissioner, as per the Garda Síochána Act 2005. As Minister, I have no direct role in these matters.
The operational review of crime statistics, at a national and regional level, is the responsibility of the Garda Commissioner under the Garda Síochána Act 2005. Again, I play no role in these independent functions.
As the Deputy will also be aware, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) is Ireland's national statistical office and its purpose is to impartially collect, analyse and make available statistics about Ireland’s population, society and economy. Their specific mandate under the Statistics Act 1993 is the collection, compilation, extraction and dissemination for statistical purposes of information relating to economic, social and general activities and conditions in the State.
The Deputy may be interested to note that the most recent available crime statistics, as published by the CSO on 29 September and covering the 12 months to the end of June 2021, are available on the CSO website www.cso.ie. The recorded crime statistics show crime trends in each Garda region, division and station.
The most recent statistics show welcome continued decreases in property and other types of crime nationwide. Burglary was down 37.2% nationwide compared to the previous 12 month period, while Robbery was down 20.7% and theft was down 22%. I also noted that Reported fraud offences have increased by 40.6% across the country in the period, and the number of Sexual offences recorded during Q2 2021 has increased by 7.5%.
