asked the Minister for Justice if he will give the figures for the latest 12 month period for which figures are available of cars (a) stolen and returned; (b) stolen and not returned; and (c) stolen and set on fire in (1) Dublin city, (2) Dublin county and (3) the remainder of the country.
Written Answers . - Stolen Cars .
626.
, (Limerick East): It is assumed that the question is intended to include cars taken without the owner's consent even though in most cases this is not stealing in the legal sense.
Garda statistics of larcenies and unauthorised takings of motor vehicles are compiled in respect of the Dublin Metropolitan Area as a whole and a breakdown of the figures for Dublin city and county is not available. In 1981, 576 cars were stolen in the Dublin Metropolitan Area, of which 526 were not recovered. In the same year, 85 cars were stolen in the rest of the country, of which 41 were not recovered.
In addition there were 17,076 unauthorised takings of motor vehicles (which term, of course, includes cars, motorcycles, vans, etc.) in the DMA in 1981 and 4,820 in the rest of the country. A breakdown of the number of cars included in these figures is not available. All of these vehicles were recovered. Information on the number of cars set on fire is not available.
The statement that all vehicles taken without the owner's consent were recovered is to be understood in the light of the fact that it is only if a vehicle is recovered that the Garda can normally have information that enables them to classify it as a "taking without consent" rather than stealing, though of course not all vehicles recovered are or can be so classified.