Vol. 541 No. 2
971 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on the alleged increase in unreported crime; if he has examined the cause or causes in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22513/01]
I am not aware of any reliable source, research or statistical framework upon which it could be claimed that the level of unreported crime has increased. In fact, I am not aware of any evidence of any description to support such a suggestion. It is, however, generally accepted across jurisdictions that a certain proportion of crime goes unreported. Although I consider that it is always in the best interest of an individual who is the victim of an offence to report the matter to the Garda Síochána, the reasons for non-reporting are complex and are not always readily amenable to resolution. For example, in 1999, the Central Statistics Office published the report Quarterly National Household Survey: Crime and Victimisation, which detailed responses to queries about crimes against individuals and households. The survey, the first of its kind, found that respondents failed to report crimes for a variety of reasons, including the belief that the crime was not serious enough or that they had solved it themselves.
It must also be noted that self-report studies, such as victimisation surveys, are not comparable with Garda statistics, as differing sources, definitions and classification methodologies are used. As a consequence, the various techniques for gathering data should be viewed as alternatives rather than direct comparables. I would, finally, reiterate that, owing to the lack of comparable self-report studies, there is no reason to believe that the level of unreported crime has increased in recent years.
