5,950 arrested in burglary crackdown

Almost 6,000 arrests have been made since Apr 2012 as part of a Garda crackdown on burglaries.

In the 16-month period to the end of July, 5,950 people had been arrested as part of Operation Fiacla, with 3,327 people charged.

Gardaí stressed that the figures were provisional and subject to change.

Some 2,000 arrests have been made as part of Operation Fiacla since January.

In recent years, gardaí have visited cash-for-gold shops around the country to signal their intention to avoid the possibility of any stolen jewellery entering the system.

However, gardaí have indicated they do not believe there has been a rise in burglaries specifically targeting gold. It a view shared by the chairman of an Oireachtas committee that carried out hearings into the sector.

Fine Gael TD David Stanton of Cork East said the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence, and Equality received just one submission into a report it compiled on the cash-for-gold sector, which has grown significantly in recent years.

The report, which contains seven specific recommendations on ways to tighten up regulation in the cash-for-gold sector, was passed to Alan Shatter, the justice minister, at the end of May.

Among the recommendations is a plan to amend legislation to bring laws over cash-for-gold businesses in line with regulations which apply to pawnbrokers.

The report recommends that cash-for-gold businesses take steps to verify the identity of clients, that they maintain records of all transactions, and that there be a cooling-off period in which clients can return cash.

Mr Stanton said yesterday that he expected a response from Mr Shatter in the next Dáil term.

He said the submission of the report to the minister’s office was delayed because the deadline was increased in the hope of gaining more input from deputies.

However, only one submission was forthcoming, and was made by the Independent Dublin TD Maureen O’Sullivan.

“We expected to get a lot more but it didn’t happen,” Mr Stanton said, adding that it was “disappointing for us” and that the committee also received just three submissions for its report into corruption and white-collar crime.

By contrast, the committee received more than 850 submissions on the issue of prostitution.