Country not in crime wave, says McDowell
Speaking in the Dáil yesterday, the minister rejected criticism of his record by members of the opposition.
"Ireland is not in the middle of a crime wave and it is an exaggeration to say it is," Mr McDowell said.
But Fine Gael justice spokesman Jim O'Keeffe said the minister was ignoring a clear increase in the number of crimes since the Fianna Fáil-PD coalition took office in 1997.
"In 1998, the first full year, the crime figure was 85,000 and last year, the figures smashed 100,000 for the 12 months," Mr O'Keeffe said.
"Will the minister now accept that his legacy is that the crime rates are up, the detection rates are down over the same period I mentioned from 44% down to 35% and the public are living in fear of their lives?
"Will he not agree that unless he is prepared to accept there is a problem, there will be no solution under this Government?"
Labour justice spokesman Brendan Howlin accused the minister of "whistling past the graveyard", saying the murder rate had increased substantially, and people no longer felt safe.
Mr McDowell conceded murder rates had increased. But he added: "While no level of murder is acceptable, I would advise the deputies that Ireland has one of the lowest murder rates in the western world.
"For example, the homicide rate in Glasgow, a city of comparable size to Dublin, is 5.5 per 100,000 of the population. The comparable figure for Dublin in 2005 is 1.7 per 100,000 of the population."
He also said the increase in crime rates had to be considered against a backdrop of a rising population.
