Burglaries cost households €58m

ALMOST €60 million has been stolen from Irish homes in the last year, it emerged yesterday.

A new survey revealed burglaries cost households a total of €58m in the 12 months between June 2003 and June 2004, an 11.5% increase on the previous year.

The Eircom PhoneWatch 2004 Burglary Report found goods with an average value of just under €3,600 were taken from each home burgled, although the overall number of burglaries decreased by 17.8% from last year.

However, with the exception of last year’s increase, the trend for burglaries over the last three years has remained downward, according to the report, the country’s most comprehensive annual report of burglaries.

Dublin remains the most burgled area, accounting for 37% of all burglaries, despite burglaries having decreased by 26% since 2003.

This figure rises to 51% when Dublin is combined with the surrounding counties of Kildare, Wicklow and Meath.

However, even with an overall decrease of 12%, counties outside Dublin now account for 63% of all burglaries in Ireland, an increase of over 5% on the same period last year.

Limerick is the second most burgled county in Ireland, accounting for almost 11% of all burglaries outside Dublin, while the most likely day to be burgled is Friday at 16% with Monday being the least likely at less than 13%.

The report also revealed 73% of the homes burgled had no alarm system.

A recent study revealed that 31% of Irish households now have an alarm system installed in their residence, 10% of which are monitored systems, while over 21% are unmonitored.

Nick Quigley, chief executive of Eircom PhoneWatch, said households are becoming more security conscious.

“We welcome this trend and any measures that make it more difficult for the burglar to strike,” he said.

“In order to keep households protected, Eircom PhoneWatch ask people to ensure that their burglar alarm is being used properly - the burglary report indicates that in houses burgled with alarms fitted, over 85% of the burglar alarms were not switched on or being used properly.”

The Eircom PhoneWatch Burglary Report was conducted by the OSG Group, the country’s leading loss adjuster, based on a sample of more than 11,309 household insurance claims.