Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 11 Nov 1998

Vol. 496 No. 4

Written Answers. - Crime Levels.

Jim Higgins

Ceist:

260 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of attempted robberies reported to the gardaí in Counties Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, Leitrim and Sligo, for each of the years from 1996 to date; and the number of those attempted robberies in respect of which people have been arrested and charged. [23169/98]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue)

The following table shows attempted robberies recorded in respect of Counties Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, Leitrim and Sligo during 1996 and 1997.

Year	Attempted Robberies	Detected	Persons Charged
1996	25	19	17
1997	41	15	14

I am informed that the number of persons arrested in respect of these offences may exceed the number of persons charged. The crime recording system does not record the total number of persons arrested in respect of an offence. Consequently, individual inquiries directed to investigating officers would be required in respect of these offences in order to establish the total number of persons arrested.

Comparable data for 1998 to date is in the following table. I want to emphasise that these statistics are provisional. They may change, subject to reclassification of a crime being investigated.

Year	Attempted Robberies	Detected	Persons Charged
1998	25	15	10

These statistics refer to attempted robberies only and do not include completed robberies.