Thurles Information

• Burglary and related offences down 36% on 2019 pre-pandemic figures.
• Homicide and related offences down 38% on 2021.
• Fraud and Economic Crime down from the start of the year but incidents remain high.
• Increase in reported Sexual Offences.

The Minister for Justice, Mrs Helen McEntee TD, has welcomed the continued decrease in burglaries noted in today’s publication of Recorded Crime Statistics by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) for Q2 of 2022.

This latest statistical release by the CSO provides an overview of crime statistics for the second quarter of this year.

There has been a 36% decrease in burglaries since pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

Notably, there has also been a decrease in incidents of homicide and related offences.

Welcoming the publication, the Minister said: “I welcome, in particular, the continued decrease in burglary and related crimes. Burglary is an invasion of not just a home but of the lives of victims. I am heartened to see that incidents of burglary and related offences are still down a great deal – 36% – in comparison to 2019 figures. As the evenings become darker, I urge everyone to please exercise caution and follow the simple crime prevention advice which An Garda Síochána provides to communities in order to keep people safe and keep crime numbers low.

I am also heartened to see the number of homicides go down, of course. Community safety is a whole of Government and whole of society responsibility which see Government Departments and agencies working with An Garda Síochána and countless, invaluable community groups to encourage community safety.

While we still have a way to go, today’s figures are a welcome reminder that this collaborate effort benefits us all as we work towards an Ireland where every citizen can feel safe and be safe as they go about their day-to-day lives”.

Garda advice on Crime Prevention can be found HERE

Property Crime

Operation Thor is designed specifically to tackle incidents of burglary throughout the country. The winter phase of Operation Thor will commence at the start of October.

For many years, An Garda Síochána have been encouraging people to clearly mark their property and make a record of it. Property that is clearly and obviously marked is less attractive to a thief as it is more difficult to sell on.

As we stated last week, Minister McEntee has announced funding of €300,000, over the next 4 years, for ‘Property Marking Ireland’, a not-for-profit property marking service, to further roll-out its services across the country.
An Garda Síochána also recently launched a new Property App that allows the public to index and record their personal property, for example, bicycles, laptops, farm machinery, jewellery etc.
People are encouraged to download this free App and to take photographs, record receipts and registration codes of their most valued items.

While there are positives to take from the CSO statistics; Minister McEntee also acknowledges the areas of crime that have risen post Covid, such as Kidnapping and related offences, Theft and related offences and Attempts/Threats to Murder, Assaults, Harassments and related offences.
In response to these latest trends Minister McEntee will ensure that these specific crimes will be swiftly addressed by providing the required funding and resources necessary to tackle these criminal gang and drug related crimes.

Sexual Offences

In June, the Minister published Zero Tolerance – the third national Strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, an ambitious five-year programme of reform to achieve a society which does not accept DSGBV or the attitudes which underpin it.

Noting that today’s release has shown a 5.6% increase in reported sexual offences on last year, Minister McEntee said: “Since becoming Minister for Justice, implementing Supporting a Victim’s Journey, which is my plan to create a more victim-centred justice system and to better support victims of sexual violence, has been one of my main priorities.

In June, I also published Zero Tolerance – the third national Strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, an ambitious five-year programme of reform to achieve a society which does not accept DSGBV or the attitudes which underpin it.

Zero tolerance means we, as individuals, don’t turn a blind eye to degradation, violence and abuse just because it’s behind closed doors. It means we don’t laugh off inappropriate touching or comments. It means we teach our children equality respect and healthy sexuality from a young age to change attitudes. It means supporting victims with compassion when they take the brave step and come forward to seek our help. It means effective punishment for perpetrators.

My hope is that the increase in reported sexual offences on last year is indicative of a growing trust in the system to support victims who have historically been under-supported, and also of a growing determination to treat sexual violence with zero tolerance by reporting crimes that have been historically under-reported”.

Fraud

Noting the increase in fraud, the Minister said: “The continued increase in incidents of fraud is concerning, particularly as the findings published today indicate that most of the fraudulent activity recorded relates to attempts to obtain people’s personal or banking information. Every person in Ireland deserves to feel safe and to be safe when they conduct their personal business online or over the phone – trying to trick people out of their personal information or hard-earned money is predatory and the reality is that anybody can fall victim to it.

That is why we all need to be alert to the risk of fraud – I urge anyone conducting sensitive or personal business online or over the phone to be very cautious when providing personal or banking information. Many of the financial institutions have excellent advice for customers on how to be safe online, as does the Citizens’ Information website”.

I note that there have been increases amongst many crime categories. It is important to note that in many cases these represent a return to pre-pandemic trends – a number of key crime categories decreased during periods of lockdown in 2020 and 2021 with people spending much more time at home. These figures represent a decrease on the 2019 figures for burglary and related offences which is a more reliable comparison. Targeted Garda activities such as Operation Thor are clearly having a positive impact”.