Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform-Michael McDowell commenting on the provisional crime statistics said "The combination of stringent legislation, unprecedented resources for An Garda Síochána and the energetic and focused operations of a fundamentally reformed Garda force are bringing out the positive developments in crime levels which CSO have documented in this and previous successes which have been achieved. The criminal Justice Bill, when enacted, will be central to that strategy."

Mr McDowell noted that there were reductions in 24 of the 40 crime categories. In particular there was a reduction of 28.6% in the number of murders and manslaughters in the first quarter, compared with the same quarter last year. While the figures are still too high, the year on year figure shows a reduction of 7.5%.

There has also been a decrease in the number of robberies of an establishment or institution, which was down 28.3% in the quarter and down 10.9% overall in the year, and robberies of cash and goods in transit, which was down 12.5% the quarter and down 23.1% in the year. The recent and intensified co-operation between the Gardaí, banks and security firms has been largely responsible for this positive development.

There has been continued decrease in the high volume crimes such as burglary (down 17.1% in the quarter) and theft (down 6.7%) and from shops (down 3.2%). This is in large part from increased attention being paid to security by businesses, motorists and individuals.

The Tánaiste expressed concern about the marked decrease in sexual offences. Noting that reported sexual offences are down 44.5% in the past quarter and 16.6% in the past 12 months, he said this highlighted the need for the Governments proposed constitutional referendum to clarify the law on unlawful carnal knowledge and reassure victims that they would be fairly and humanely treated when reporting sexual crime.

There was a noted decrease of 66.7% in traffic fatalities in the quarter, which mirrors the figure for the fourth quarter of 2006. The Minister stated "While there are still far too many needless deaths, I believe that recent changes in legislation, the continuing high levels of road traffic law enforcement by the Garda Síochána and resulting changes in driver behaviour are now having a significant impact. However, we cannot allow ourselves to become complacent and the strength of the Garda Traffic Corps will continue to increase."

The increase in fraud offences has stressed the need for consumers, financial institutions and businesses to be vigilant, and proactive in combating this type of crime. Identity fraud in particular is becoming more prevalent as our economy becomes more complex.

A crime and victimisation survey carried out in the fourth quarter of 2006, which involved face to face interviews in 29,000 households throughout the country, shows reductions in the incidence of theft with and without violence, physical assault, burglary, car, motorcycle and bicycle theft and theft from cars compared with 2003.

Although overall people's experience of crime had increased substantially from the first survey in 1998 to 2003, it has actually reduced in the past three years to 2006. There will be many interpretations placed on this but in the Tánaiste's opinion "it reflects the fact that the in the first years of this Government it took time to correct the neglect of the Rainbow who failed to invest in crime prevention, allowing the number of Gardaí to drop and the number of prison places to fall. It took several years to reverse the damage that the revolving door did to the administration of the criminal justice system."

The results of this survey confirm the positive trends in crime reported to the Garda Síochána since 2003 and this detailed study adds greatly to our knowledge of people's experience and perception of crime. Some of the outcomes differ significantly from the recently published EU International Crime Survey which suggested that Ireland's experience of crime was way out of line with other EU member states. It is now clear that the CSO survey gives a far more representative and reliable sample then the EU survey of 2,000 people with a very low response rate. While the CSO survey reveals some challenges that face An Garda Síochána, it is encouraging that a majority of Irish people retain their faith in and support for the Irish police force.