An Garda Síochána

Tuesday, 26 July 2022

Questions (1521)

Peadar Tóibín

Question:

1521. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Justice the number of times that gardaí were called to the scene of a burglary and break-in in each county in the State in each of the past ten years and to date in 2022. [39907/22]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Justice

As the Deputy will be aware, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended), the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána, including Garda operations aimed at preventing and detecting crime. As Minister, I have no direct role in these matters.

The 2021-2022 winter phase of Operation Thor was launched by Gardaí in October 2021. Operation Thor is designed to tackle burglaries and associated criminal activities, which often increase in the darker winter months, through targeted enforcement and crime prevention activity and information.

This annual focus from Operation Thor has proved highly successful in tackling property-related crime since its inception in November 2015. In 2015, there were in excess of 18,800 residential burglaries reported. By contrast, in 2021 there were just over 6,000 residential burglaries reported, a reduction of over 66% or approximately 13,000 fewer residential burglaries.

While the COVID-19 pandemic was clearly a factor in some of this reduction, with people more likely to be present in their homes throughout the day, there has been a marked and consistent downward trend in such offences since the introduction of this Garda focus through Operation Thor.

The table below, provided to me by the Garda authorities, outlines the number of burglary and aggravated burglary incidents reported to An Garda Síochána in each year from 2012 up to 13 July 2022. I am advised incidents are grouped by county of occurrence.

County	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022*	Total
Carlow	507	498	391	330	190	222	186	160	90	99	62	2,735
Cavan	286	205	218	325	234	348	274	213	134	98	60	2,395
Clare	364	369	351	380	291	235	274	217	177	135	83	2,876
Cork	1,513	1,442	1,303	1,473	838	1,012	883	804	576	464	262	10,570
Donegal	443	392	405	322	214	292	224	257	138	121	65	2,873
Dublin	10,513	9,987	11,784	11,201	8,555	7,955	7,394	7,480	4,919	3,433	2,144	85,365
Galway	993	872	980	887	513	673	597	528	409	357	177	6,986
Kerry	336	311	357	386	177	248	253	257	179	131	77	2,712
Kildare	1,777	1,263	1,423	1,367	957	1,171	891	966	424	388	263	10,890
Kilkenny	544	556	529	376	235	212	219	193	139	109	73	3,185
Laois	597	642	667	584	358	335	287	234	132	146	95	4,077
Leitrim	118	80	123	99	75	135	77	75	67	52	16	917
Limerick	1,170	1,068	1,055	1,072	747	803	924	804	569	432	259	8,903
Longford	294	292	243	206	132	175	147	125	60	78	50	1,802
Louth	1,184	1,149	1,070	1,063	729	667	653	511	355	288	178	7,847
Mayo	485	337	322	312	249	218	210	169	102	105	69	2,578
Meath	1,226	1,043	938	872	587	794	614	560	387	317	261	7,599
Monaghan	173	146	133	95	114	131	128	200	120	96	59	1,395
Offaly	381	408	408	388	252	312	157	197	136	162	94	2,895
Roscommon	254	165	178	172	123	163	109	116	57	80	44	1,461
Sligo	279	254	245	224	144	135	164	136	89	84	33	1,787
Tipperary	694	748	632	515	432	371	374	398	275	248	159	4,846
Waterford	737	801	822	807	545	546	404	360	222	182	116	5,542
Westmeath	560	663	575	336	244	356	245	306	147	191	134	3,757
Wexford	1,093	1,088	996	1,044	522	552	448	475	368	339	154	7,079
Wicklow	1,193	851	917	887	643	707	487	674	317	254	185	7,115
National	27,714	25,630	27,065	25,723	18,100	18,768	16,623	16,415	10,588	8,389	5,172	200,187

*1 January to 13 July 2022

I am informed by the Garda authorities that forcible entry into a building (‘break-in’) is assumed in this case to include the intent of committing an offence and thus falls under the description of Burglary (as required to be recorded as such on PULSE).

I am further informed that a national total of 51 incidents of ‘Forcible Entry & Occupation (Not Burglary)’ were recorded on PULSE since 1 January 2012. I understand this offence refers specifically to forcible entry on land or into vehicles.

I am advised that the above figures were collated based on data from PULSE as of 1:30am on the 14 July 2022. The Deputy will appreciate that these figures are operational and may be liable to change. I am further advised that crime counting rules have been applied to reflect all recorded incidents.