Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 178: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the measures which are being taken by the gardaí to deal with the crime in the Whitehall and Santry areas of Dublin; the level of reported crime to Garda stations in the areas mentioned for each year since 2002 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9662/06]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I am informed by the Garda authorities that the following table shows the number of headline offences by group, recorded and detected in the Garda district of Santry, which includes Whitehall, for the years 2002 to 2005, inclusive. I am pleased to note that the figures show a decrease of 9% in the headline crime rate for 2005 in the Santry district, when compared with 2004.

I am also informed that the current policing plans in the area are designed, inter alia, to address the following issues, burglaries; the prevention of anti-social and public order offences; the prevention of crime including crimes of violence against persons and property and the maintenance of an environment conducive to the improvement of quality of life of the residents. This strategy is, and will continue to be, central to the delivery of a policing service to the area in question.

In addition to regular patrolling by uniform and plain-clothes gardaí there are community police assigned to these areas, who have an excellent rapport with the local community and offer advice, support and assistance. The district units are supplemented by the divisional task force and traffic units.

It should be borne in mind that any interpretation of the crime figures should factor in the increase in our population in the past ten years. In 1995 with a population of almost 3.6 million people, there were 29 crimes per 1,000 of the population. In 2005, with a population of over 4.1 million, there were 24.6 crimes per 1,000 of the population, a reduction of 4.4 crimes per 1,000 of the population. A certain proportion of the increase in the figures for recorded headline crime is due to the increases in recording rates resulting from the phasing in of the Garda PULSE IT system from 1999 to 2002.