Burglaries have cost householders a total of €58 million over a 12-month period, an 11.5 per cent increase in value over the previous year, latest figures have shown.
The Eircom PhoneWatch Burglary Report 2004, published yesterday, covered the period June 2003 and June 2004 and compared figures with the previous 12-month period.
The report showed that an average value of just under €3,600 in goods was taken from each home burgled in the State in that period.
Overall, burglaries in Ireland had decreased by 17.8 per cent. With the exception of last year's increase, the trend for burglaries over the last three years had remained constant, it said.
Five in 10 burglaries took place while people were at home, with the most likely time of the day to be burgled between midnight and 4 a.m. This indicated that people did not adequately secure their property while they were in the house, the report stated.
The most vulnerable residences were semi-detached and detached houses which accounted for over 50 per cent of burglaries and €32.5 million in the value of stolen goods.
The report stated that despite having decreased by 26 per cent since 2003, Dublin remained the most burgled area in the State, accounting for 37 per cent of all burglaries. This figure rose to 51 per cent when Dublin was combined with the surrounding counties of Kildare, Wicklow and Meath.
The most burglaries, excluding Dublin, occurred in Limerick, which accounted for 10.7 per cent of all burglaries outside the capital, surpassing Co Wicklow, which had been second to Dublin over the last three years.
Cork had experienced a drop in burglaries of 5 per cent over the last 12 months, accounting for 8.9 percent of burglaries outside the Dublin area, the same percentage as last year.
The back of the house is the most popular point of entry, with almost five out of 10 burglars gaining access this way, either by the rear window or by the rear/patio door. A surprising 18 per cent of burglars gained access via the front of the house.
Burglary report: main findings
