Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

It is absurd to state that there has been a dramatic increase in headline crime for 2005 when the level of headline crime for 2005 is 4.4% lower than the level for 2002. I did not hear the Opposition Deputies state that there was a dramatic fall in headline crime when there was a decrease of 3% recorded for 2003 and a further decrease of 4% in 2004 compared with 2003. Since I took the decision to publish crime statistics on a quarterly basis at the beginning of 2003, I have consistently emphasised that care must be taken in interpreting the statistics, especially when considering short-term fluctuations and extrapolating trends over short periods.

I will briefly discuss long-term crime patterns. The level of headline crime in 2005 is lower than that for 2003 by 1.6% and for 2002 by 4.4%. Furthermore, in 1995, with a population of almost 3.6 million people, there were 29 crimes per 1,000 of the population, while in 2005, with a population of over 4.1 million, there were 24.6 crimes per 1,000 of the population. That is a significant decrease in the level of criminality in our population.

Our crime rate continues to compare very favourably with those of our nearest neighbours. In England and Wales, in the year April 2003 to March 2004, the most recent year for which figures are available, 113 crimes were committed per 1,000 population. In 2004-05 in Scotland there were 86.3 crimes per 1,000 population and in Northern Ireland there were 69 crimes per 1,000 population compared with our rate of 24.6 per 1,000.

Moreover, there have been significant reductions in 2005 in the incidence of manslaughter, down 50%; aggravated sexual assault, down 43%; robbery of cash and goods in transit, down 27%, which reflects in part the changes made as a result of the intervention with the cash in transit industry; robbery from the person, down 23%; and theft from the person, down18%. However, I am not complacent and the overall increase in recorded crime and the increases in particular categories in the most recent figures published are disappointing. I am not down-playing my concerns in that respect.

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