Burglars hit householders for €1m weekly

BURGLARS targeting Irish homes are netting more than €1million every week.

But experts say that careless householders are playing into the hands of burglars by not securing their homes properly. Even in burgled homes with alarms fitted, according to the latest report, almost 40% of the burglar alarms were either not switched on or being properly used.

Six in ten burglaries take place while people are at home, with 41% of such crimes falling between midnight and 4am.

A spokesman for the Eircom PhoneWatch report, published yesterday, said this indicated that people do not adequately secure their property while they are in the house.

Despite that, burglaries nationally fell by 18% in the year to June. The alarm company said this pointed to households becoming more security conscious.

Burglaries cost residential households €59m in the 12 months to June 2005 - an average of €3,600 being taken from each home.

On top of this, an estimated e6m in cash was stolen during the same period. But this figure could be much higher because an estimated 30% of burglary goes unreported.

Dublin remains the most burgled area in the country. It represents 40% of all burglaries and shows a 7.2% rise in its share of the national burglary figure in a year.

Kildare, Wicklow and Meath account for 15% of national burglaries. Cork represented 10.1% of burglaries outside the Dublin area.

Southside Dublin's share of the capital's burglary statistics jumped from 49% in 2004 to 58% in the 12 months to last June.

Semi-detached and detached houses are the most vulnerable, accounting for more than 50% of all burglaries. Prime entry sites for burglars are rear window (23.8%), rear door (21.7%) and side window (21%), with Saturday the worst day of the week (17.8%).

Just 31% of Irish households have an alarm system installed, according to a study by the Central Statistics Office in July 2004. In the UK the figure is 15% and 20% in the US.

Eircom PhoneWatch said Irish householders were becoming more security conscious. It reported its subscriber base had increased by 20% over the past 12 months, for a total of more than 65,000 households.

The time - Burglary by time of day:

* Midnight-4am: 40.7%

* 4am-8am: 6.5%

* 8am-noon: 5.9%

* noon-4pm: 16.4%

* 4pm-8pm: 18.8%

* 8pm-midnight: 11.7%

Way in - Burglary by method of entry:

* Side door 2%

* Rear door 21.7%

* Front door 19.2%

* Rear window 23.8%

* Side window 2.1%

* Front window 8%

* Roof 1%

* Other 22.1%

The target - Burglary by dwelling type:

* Apartment 1.5%

* Bungalow 19.3%

* Cottage 0.5%

* Detached 23%

* Mobile home 0.6%

* Semi-detached 32.7%

* Terraced 16.3%

* Other 6.2%