The provisional crime figures for 2004 show a further reduction of 4 per cent in serious offences last year, though serious sexual crime is up. This follows a decrease of 2 per cent overall in 2003 compared with 2002, when there was an increase on the previous year.
The decreases are taking place against a background of an increasing population, so the rate of crimes per 100,000 is falling at a greater rate, and stood at 24.4 per 100,000, one of the lowest in the western world.
However, crime statistics have been subjected to some criticism recently, and reflect only crimes reported to the Garda Síochána. They do not include people's experience of crime as recorded in the Crime Victimisation Survey, or crimes not dealt with or treated as "headline crime" by the Garda Síochána, such as tax evasion and fraud.
According to the Garda's provisional figures for headline crime, the number of murders and manslaughters fell from 52 to 45, a drop of 13 per cent.
While sexual crime also showed a decline, this is accounted for by a drop of 403 in the number of sexual assaults reported.
More serious sexual offences, like rape of a female, Section 4 rape (of a male, oral or anal rape or rape with an object), and aggravated sexual assault all showed increases of over 20 per cent. But because the overall number of these offences stood at 461, compared with 1,135 for unlawful carnal knowledge and sexual assault, the overall figure fell.
Commenting on these figures, the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, said: "The nature of the relationship between the number of sexual crimes reported, particularly the more serious one of rape, and the number of incidents remains a complex one. This is an area where careful examination of the facts is essential.
"One factor which may be influencing reporting patterns is the increased use of alcohol by perpetrators and victims. Another appears to be access to sexual assault treatment units.
"Ongoing research supported by my Department will help clarify the issues concerned and action will, where appropriate, be taken to resolve any difficulties."
Some property crimes showed a significant decrease, with aggravated burglary, theft from the person and robbery from the person all down 14 per cent.
Thefts from a vehicle were slightly up and thefts of bicycles up 8 per cent. There was a spate of such thefts in the last quarter of the year, with an increase of 57 per cent over the same period of 2003.
Robbery of cash in transit was also up, by 15 per cent between 2003 and 2004. Much of this is accounted for in the last three months of the year, when there were 17 such robberies, compared with 11 over the same period the previous year.
Possession of drugs for sale or supply also fell during the year, recording a drop of 6 per cent. False imprisonments and abductions also fell, by 15 and 32 per cent respectively.
However, discharge of firearms rose from 210 instances to 290, an increase of 38 per cent, though possession of firearms fell by 4 per cent.
"The commissioner and his senior management team are currently developing divisional plans to identify, profile and target individuals and gangs suspected of organised crime, drug-related crime, sexual crime and other criminal activity," Mr McDowell said.
He drew attention to the fact that the figures are provisional, and will be validated before they are published in the Garda Síochána Annual Report.