National crime survey six years late

A NATIONAL survey considered crucial to establishing the true levels of crime in Ireland will not be conducted until 2008 — six years after the Department of Justice was urged to commission it.

The National Crime Victimisation Survey was first proposed in 2001 by the National Crime Council (NCC), an independent body established by the department to offer policy advice to the Government.

The NCC recommended that the department commission the first survey in 2002 and repeat the exercise every two years after that.