Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 634: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of crimes recorded and detected across all headings in the Dublin north central metropolitan region division during 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10485/06]

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 north central Garda division of the Dublin metropolitan region, DMR, for 2000 to 2005 inclusive.

The introduction of the PULSE computer system by the Garda Síochána in 1999 has led to more complete and comprehensive recording of crimes reported than was previously the case. Consequently the statistics provided for 1997 are not comparable to statistics provided for 2000 and subsequent years.

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. The figures provided for 2000 and 2001 are incomplete due to the phased implementation of PULSE. The first full year captured is 2002 and is a more accurate base year to use. Offences in the homicide group are wider than the offences of murder and manslaughter. The homicide group of headline offences also includes the offences of attempted murder, murder threats, infanticide, abortion and procuring or assisting in an abortion.

I am pleased to see the Garda policing plan for 2006, under the heading Policy Reviews 2006, includes a commitment to assessing causes of the rise in crimes of burglary in 2005. This work has commenced with a view to reversing the current upward trend and identifying strategies to target this significant issue. It is intended to mount special operations in particular problem areas.

I am pleased to note that since I took up office the number of headline offences recorded has significantly dropped year on year from 10,794 in 2002 to 8,385 in 2005.