GARDAI would be more successful in investigating terrorist and major criminal cases if they did not have to warn suspects of their right to silence before an interview, the Garda Commissioner said yesterday.
Mr Pat Byrne said having to warn suspects that they could say nothing was an obstacle to gathering information which could lead to serious crimes being solved.
While he did not call for an end to the right to silence, the Commissioner said, there was a need for a public debate on the issue.
"If the question is, in relation to organised crime and terrorist- related crime, would my officers be more successful if the suspects didn't have that right to silence? then, yes, they would."
He said after a major investigation a suspect is arrested "and the first thing you tell them is 'you don't have to say anything'." This was "a serious barrier to the investigation of these types of crimes".
The Commissioner was commenting on the Garda's 1996 annual report, published yesterday by the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue.
The report shows that 100,785 serious offences were recorded in the State last year, a fall of 1.7 per cent on 1995, but about 18 per cent up on the figure a decade ago.
The Commissioner said figures for this year showed a continuing downward trend, with the total number of indictable crimes for the first five months of this year 8 per cent lower than the same period last year.
However, the figure for rapes continued to grow. There were 94 recorded rapes to the end of May this year, compared to 79 for the same period last year.
The murder rate has fallen, with 13 for the first five months of this year, compared to 28 for the same period last year.
Mr Byrne acknowledged that "gangland" killings remained a problem, with today's criminals much more likely to kill someone as a result of a dispute.
"What are killings today would have been assaults 20 years ago. Life has become so cheap and if you execute somebody there will be no retaliation from that person."
He said he had to face up to the fact that when it came to so-called "gangland" murders, the Garda was "not as successful as we are in relation to other types of murders".
Mr Byrne said he believed the annual Garda report was "an accurate reflection" of crime.
"I do not accept that a lot of crime is not reported to us," he said. The report was "a very accurate picture of what is happening in society today. I've no doubt that some crime is not being reported but I can't quantify it, and I haven't met anyone who can."
He said one of his main interests was crime trends and the annual report allowed a proper comparison with the reports of previous years.
One of the trends which most concerned him, Mr Byrne said was the growth in "syringe attacks". Syringes were frequently used as a weapon by people who were not drug addicts but were capitalising on the public's fear of a possibly infected needle. "They're using syringes to intimidate people because they know the fear that people have".
The report shows that there were 1,104 recorded instances of a syringe being used in a robbery or burglary last year, more than double the 453 cases recorded in 1995. About 90 per cent of such attacks were in the Dublin area.
The report also shows an increase in the number of car thefts: 15,185 cars were stolen last year, compared to 13,883 the previous year. However, most of these were where criminals had taken a car for a period, perhaps to commit a crime, and abandoned it later. Of the 15,185 cases last year, the bulk were such "unauthorised takings", while 1,780 cars were stolen for profit.
The report shows that during the year the Garda authorities held 34 sworn inquiries into alleged breaches of discipline by gardai. In 24 of these cases, gardai were found to have broken the rules and an average of Pounds 376 was taken from their pay. There was one dismissal and four "involuntary resignations".