Fine Gael leader Mr Enda Kenny has attacked the Government for failing to tackle anti-social behaviour and serious crime.
Mr Kenny said detection rates had dropped from 44 per cent of crimes to 39 per cent between 1998 and 2003, while two out of five crimes were no longer reported.
Speaking in the Dáil, Mr Kenny told the Taoiseach the Government had failed "abysmally" to deal with crime. He said the rash of anti-social behaviour on the streets every weekend implied no one was in charge and that things were seriously out of control.
"What do you say to the shopkeepers and business owners of this country when their premises are being invaded on a daily basis and nothing can be done because the gardaí don't have the resources?" he asked.
"Do you not appreciate the levels of frustration that can build up in people when they feel they have to take the law into their own hands, often with unfortunate and tragic consequences?" he said.
The Fine Gael leader claimed there were 10,000 more serious offences per year than when the current Government took over from the previous Rainbow coalition.
He told the Taoiseach if he did not appreciate the level of concern, frustration and anger at "the failure of the Government to deal with anti-social behaviour, petty crime, break-ins and assaults, you should be ashamed of yourself".
But Mr Ahern insisted there were now more gardaí on the streets and that crime figures were down. He said Ireland had more gardaí per capita than most countries, along with more prison places and more laws.
He conceded, however, that "we still have too much crime" but added that crime statistics for 2003 were down by over 3,000 on the previous year.