Crime-solving rate by Gardaí has dropped 'significantly'

The crime-solving rate by gardaí has dropped substantially over a five-year period, according to the Central Statistics Office.

The fall in detections between 2010 and 2014 includes significant reductions in relation to sexual offences, burglaries, and robberies.

The CSO explains that the main criteria for classifying an offence as ‘detected’ is when criminal proceedings have been commenced for the offence. However, there are scenarios where crimes may be detected but prosecution is not initiated, including in cases where the perpetrator is dead or is a juvenile or where a key witness will not give evidence, and these are a significant factor in the discrepancy between detected cases and the number of convictions.