The most recent Central Statistics Office (CSO) crime and victimisation survey shows that three-quarters of people feel safe walking in their own areas.

The data was collected during Q2 and Q3 2019.

However, one in ten of those surveyed, aged 18 and over, said they had been a victim of a theft or attempted theft, an assault or a fraud crime, in the previous 12 months.

Younger people were more likely to be a victim of these types of crime. A total of 14% of those aged 18-29 said they had been a victim, compared with 5% of people aged over 60.

Victimisation

Dublin had the highest rate of victimisation for these types of crime (13%).

One in 25 (4%) of households said they had suffered a burglary or vandalism to their property in the previous 12 months, with the highest rates in Dublin (6%) and lowest rates in the Border and West regions (both 2%).

Around six out of ten households (59%) reported these incidents to An Garda Síochána, with the main reason given for non-reporting by households being that the incident wasn’t considered serious enough.

Theft

A full 46% had confidence in the criminal justice system, while 5% of bike users had experienced theft. And 18% of farm households had experience of trespassing.

Three-quarters of people aged 18 and over felt either very safe, or fairly safe, walking in their local area at night.

Unsafe

The proportion of people who felt unsafe doing so was higher for women (36%) than for men (13%).

It was also higher in more disadvantaged areas of the country (31%) than in the most affluent areas (21%).

More than two-thirds (68%) of persons aged 18 and over said they felt that An Garda Síochána were ‘very effective’ or ‘quite effective’ at tackling crime in their local area.