The Minister for Justice has commissioned a survey into why more than 40 per cent of rapes reported to the Garda do not reach the stage of court proceedings writes Jim Cusack, Security Correspondent.
Figures for 1997 show that of 256 alleged rapes reported to gardai, no court proceedings were taken in 111 incidents.
Mr O'Donoghue said gardai were also carrying out research into the experiences of rape victims after reporting the crimes. He was commenting on the official release of crime figures for last year, which showed another marked decline in most crimes with the exception of rape and sexual assault.
The number of rapes reported to gardai rose by 13 per cent. This followed a rise of 40 per cent in 1997.
The Minister commended the Garda on the decline in crime and increase in detection rate. The number of crimes recorded in 1998 was 85,653, a 6 per cent drop on 1997.