Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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133. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide an update on Operation Fiacla. [18164/14]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Operation Fiacla was established by the Garda Commissioner to coordinate a sustained national drive against those involved in burglary, aggravated burglaries and related offences. It is an intelligence driven national operation and specific burglary initiatives have been implemented in each Garda Region to target suspected offenders. As of 31 March, 8,687 persons have been arrested and 4,954 persons have been charged with burglary offences under Operation Fiacla.

Operation Fiacla has proved to be a robust and effective response to those who seek to prey on law abiding householders and this is borne out by the full year Crime Statistics for 2013 which are the latest figures published by the Central Statistics Office. These show a welcome reduction of 7.2% in burglary and related offences over the 12 month period and continue a trend which has been evident since the introduction of Operation Fiacla.