Some €59 million in cash and property was stolen from Irish homes in the year between June 2004 and June 2005 - a 1.3 per cent annual increase, according to a survey published today.
During the same period the number of burglaries which took place in Ireland decreased by 18 per cent, which suggests that the amount of cash and valuables being taken in each incident is increasing.
Six in ten burglaries take place while people at home and the most common time for them to happen is between midnight and 4am.
The figures are revealed in the latest eircomPhoneWatch Burglary Report which found that an average of €3,634 is taken in each burglary. The most recent Garda figures show 16,129 residential burglaries annually which is how the €59 million was arrived at. However, eircom PhoneWatch cautions that the level of unreported burglaries could be as high as 30 per cent.
Nick Quigley
Dublin continues to have the highest rate of burglaries with 40 per cent of all reported domestic thefts taking place in the capital. When taken in conjunction with the surrounding counties of Kildare, Wicklow and Meath, the region accounts for 55 per cent of all burglaries.
Cork city and county is the next burglary black spot accounting for 0.1 per cent of burglaries outside the Dublin area. The counties with the least number of burglaries are Roscommon and Monaghan.
The houses most at risk are semi-detached and detached houses while the most popular point of entry is the rear of the house which accounts half of incidents. However a significant 27 per cent of burglars gain access through the front of the house.
"Even though burglar alarms are a proven deterrent, the report indicates that in some cases people who have burglar alarms, may not be turning them on or using them correctly - in burgled homes with alarms fitted almost 40 per cent of the burglar alarms were not switched on or were not being used properly," said Nick Quigley, chief executive of eircom PhoneWatch.