Serious assaults in Dublin 'treble in four years'

Serious assaults have almost trebled in Dublin since 2000, according to Garda figures.

The total number of assaults recorded in the capital rose by 23 per cent between 2000 and 2004 while serious assaults rose from 12 per week in 2000 to 33 per week in 2004.

The figures, released this morning, were obtained by Fine Gael Deputy Leader Richard Bruton in a parliamentary question.

They show that areas in the North and West of the city are the most affected, with assaults in Blanchardstown doubling in the space of four years and increases of almost 66 per cent in Tallaght and Coolock.

Detection rates have also fallen, down seven percentage points to 32 per cent in 2004. Some 4,200 fewer serious crimes were detected in Dublin in 2004 than in 2000, according to the figures.

"There is no doubt that there are huge questions to be asked about Government policy, about Garda strength, and the effectiveness of Garda deployment," said Mr Bruton.

"We are well past the time when hollow rhetoric like 'zero tolerance' can pass for serious criminal justice strategy. The Government does not have any stratetgy. It lurches erratically from one policy to another," he added.

"One day Michael McDowell declares that organised crime in the city is beaten, the next he focuses every spare resource on the problem. Dublin deserves better," he said.

The figures were raised in the Dáil by Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny and rejected by the Taoiseach, who said headline crimes had reduced between 2003 and 2004.

"Even though there are 400,000 more people in the country...headline crime is down 14 per cent," Mr Ahern said.

"They are the figures from the Department of Justice, perhaps somebody else is doing a different set of figures."

Mr Kenny said the Taoiseach deserved "some sort of accolade for the confusion that comes out in his answers at all times."

"The source of this information is not some pie in the sky. It is a parliamentary reply given on the 10th of May, 2005 and these are the official statistics from the Department of Justice.

Mr Ahern added that there had never "been more gardai on the streets of this country than we have at present."