Serious crimes such as murder and rape increased significantly last year

There were increases in the prevalence of serious crimes such as murder and rape last year compared with the year before, as well as pre-Covid 2019, according to An Garda Síochána.

Provisional crime statistics for 2022, published by the force on Friday, show there was a 16 per cent increase in the number of murders on 2019, and a 76 per cent increase on 2021. Attempted murder was up 59 per cent on 2019 but down 31 per cent on 2021.

The Garda said comparisons between 2022 and 2021 should continue to be considered in the context of Covid-19 when public health measures meant most types of crime saw reductions.

There was a continued increase (8 per cent) in domestic abuse incidents with nearly 54,000 attended to by the Garda compared with just under 50,000 incidents in 2021 and just over 44,500 in 2020.

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Sexual offences overall saw increases of 8 per cent on 2019 and 4 per cent on 2021, with reported rape up by 13 per cent on 2019 and 2 per cent on 2021. Instances of human trafficking were up 110 per cent on 2019 and 31 per cent on 2021.

Harassment, stalking and threats were up 18 per cent on 2019 and 5 per cent on 2021. Assault causing harm was up 16 per cent on 2019 and 20 per cent on 2021.

The Garda said the increase in sexual offences figures may relate to a change in reporting behaviour whereby victims are increasingly likely to report sexual crime.

Furthermore, ongoing efforts by the Garda regarding improvement of data quality and recording “may be a contributing factor” to the upward trend in recorded incidents of both sexual offences and crimes against the person in recent years, it added.

There was an increase of 36 per cent in property crime in 2022 compared with the previous year, but it generally remains down compared with 2019.

Overall reported burglary in 2022 was 45 per cent lower than pre-pandemic levels. While residential burglary was up 7 per cent compared with 2021, it was down 24 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Technology-based fraud which increased significantly during the Covid-19 pandemic, and particularly in 2021, reduced during 2022. The increase in accommodation fraud (28 per cent) and bogus tradesman fraud (8 per cent) continued.

The Garda’s divisional drugs units seized in excess of €32 million in drugs, while the force’s drugs and organised crime bureau seized drugs worth €57 million. Cash worth €3.75 million was also seized along with nine firearms.

Fatal road traffic collisions increased by 20 per cent, while serious road traffic collisions decreased by 3 per cent. There were more than 50,000 road traffic collisions reported to the Garda during the year.