Security costs Dublin firms £160m per year

CRIME and security are costing Dublin businesses about £160 million a year, according to figures based on a survey by Dublin Chamber of Commerce.

A questionnaire was sent to 1,000 firms in the city, to which 162 responded. It asked the businesses to provide an estimate of their annual percentage revenue loss through theft, spending on security, and the hiring of security personnel.

The study found the average loss to each responding business was 1.2 per cent of all revenue. This figure jumped to 4.2 per cent for the larger retailers.

Just 13 per cent of the respondents said the person responsible for their security matters was formally qualified. As to security advice, 30 per cent said they went to the Garda, 38 per cent had in house expertise, while 78 per cent obtained information from suppliers of security services.

The chief executive of Dublin Chamber of Commerce, Mr Noel Carroll, called for a more "pro-active" approach to the crime and security problem.

He said security briefings and workshops, organised by Dublin Chamber of Commerce had been poorly attended. He is not happy with the level of seriousness being adopted by businesses to the problem, which he feels should be given a much higher priority by them.

"The message has to go out", he said, "that the costs can be reduced if businesses work with the Garda and the Chamber of Commerce on best practices and strategies to combat the problem of crime".

He did not think the low level of response to the questionnaire, or the tendency of Dublin businesses to treat the crime problem as less serious than they should, was evidence of fatalism before the problem. What was needed, was "a more professional, pro-active approach."

"Security is a major business issue", he said. Laxness on it was "unacceptable." He also spoke of the frustrations of some companies, who were "very alert... very. very good, . . . vigilant" while others were not. This indicates there was an acceptable level of crime among businesses, which encouraged criminals.

He said the Chamber would shortly be approaching the Minister for Justice to propose a pilot scheme for Finglas, which would involve videoing the area", and the introduction of closed circuit television in shops there.

Such "practical measures", along with co-operation between businesses, the Garda, and the Department of Justice, were the way forward, he believed.