Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2, together.

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 or extrapolating trends over short periods. I have emphasised this both when the level of crime has decreased, as it has in the majority of quarters since 2003, and when it has increased, as it did in the last quarter.

First, I wish to refer to the long-term crime trends. The level of headline crime in 2005 was actually lower than that for 2003 by 1.6% and for 2002 by 4.4%. Furthermore in 1995, when we had a population of almost 3.6 million, 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 — 15% of crimes less per 1,000 of the population in 2005 compared with 1995. To put this in context, during the two full years of the rainbow coalition Government, with a population of 600,000 fewer than at present, the headline crime figures were as follows: 1995 — 102,484; 1996 — 100,785, a rate of over 500,000 crimes for a five year Government at a time when our population was much lower than now.

The figures for the first quarter of 2006 paint a mixed picture. Of the 25 headline offence categories, 13 showed decreases and 12 recorded increases. Furthermore, there was an increase of 8% in the overall figure for the quarter compared with one year previously. This increase is less than that for the last quarter of 2005, when it was 10%.

Crimes against property account for the majority of the increase in headline crime for the first quarter. I have been advised by the Garda Commissioner that he has instructed the regional Garda commissioners and divisional chief superintendents to devise and implement strategies in their areas to target, track down and bring to justice persistent offenders. Furthermore, I have made available a further €10 million to the Garda Commissioner for special Garda operations tackling specific forms of crime including burglaries and other offences.

Murder and manslaughter is up by three in the first quarter, from a total of nine to 12.

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