More than one person on average raped every day
There were 102 recorded cases between January and March which represents a 25% rise in serious sex attacks on the same period last year.
Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures show a 35% drop in the number of murders committed in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period last year. In the 12 months to end of March, there were 54 murders and manslaughter offences, including 14 murders, one more than in the previous 12 months. The number of drugs offences, including possession for personal use, also increased, as did robbery, extortion and hijacking offences and kidnappings.
In the 12-month period up to the end of March the number of drug-driving offences more than doubled compared to the previous 12 month period, from 351 to 711.
Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern said the figures overall contained some encouraging trends and pledged to continue his programme of criminal law reform.
“While there was a minimal increase in the number of murders in the quarter, I am aware that the majority of these were carried out with firearms, which is a characteristic of gang-related murders,” he said.
However, Fine Gael Justice spokesman Charlie Flanagan said the statistics “paint a dismal picture for the year ahead”, claiming violent burglaries had increased by 48% since the general election and knife crime had risen by 38%.
“The latest CSO crime statistics reveal that credit crunch crime is on the increase and the gardaí are struggling to contain it, at the same time that Justice Minister Dermot Ahern slashes the Garda budget by €85m,” he said.
“Based on quarterly figures, aggravated burglaries have shot up by 48% since 2007, when Fianna Fáil was elected on a promise to protect people in their homes and on the streets. Knife crime and other offensive weapons offences are also on the increase, up 38% in the most recent quarter compared with the same period in 2007.
“Double-digit increases in crime demands a stronger Garda presence. Yet Minister Ahern is doing the exact opposite by cutting back on Garda recruitment and slashing overtime by 25% this year,” he added.
There has been a fall in the number of murders and sexual offences in the first quarter of this year, but an increase in cases of rape and gun crime.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures show a 35% drop in the number of murders committed in the first quarter compared with the same period last year.
While the figures for murder in the first three months of this year compared to the same period last year show a decrease, in the year to the end of March there were 54 murders and manslaughter offences, including 14 murders, one more than in the previous 12 month period.
Comparing the first quarter of this year with the same in 2008, there was a fall in dangerous driving-leading to death offences, from nine to two, and a 29% fall in sexual offences, from 439 last year to 312 this past quarter. Non-aggravated sexual assault fell by 47%, but recorded rape offences rose by 26%.
As part of plans to drive down gangland crime the Government brought the Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Bill before the Dáil on Wednesday, but Mr Flanagan said: “Fianna Fáil has failed to make people safer in their homes. But the most disturbing feature is that, with the Gardaí hampered by Government-imposed cuts, ordinary citizens will have less protection from credit crunch crime.”
