The business community is “under constant attack from planned professional criminality”, the director of the Small Firms Association, Patricia Callan, said yesterday, as the association published a survey suggesting that a third of businesses have been victims of crime at least once during the past two years.

Six in 10 firms questioned for the association’s crime survey said they had experienced an increase in crime in the past two years.

“There is an enormous psychological price being paid by business people as crime is now more organised, more professional, more ruthless and more pervasive,” Ms Callan said.

However, business crime did not appear to be on the political agenda, she claimed.

The average cost to businesses per incident was €4,518, the survey found, an increase of 55 per cent on 2009 figures.

Theft of stock was the most commonly cited incident, followed by burglary and criminal damage. Respondents spent an average of €6,133 on security measures, or a total investment of more than €2 billion a year for all small businesses, the association said. Ms Callan said small firms could “ill afford” to spend large sums on security.

The survey indicates that firms are putting more complex security systems in place. More than half of the 714 firms who took part in the survey use CCTV systems, while almost four in 10 have installed electronic access-control systems.

Firms are also making use of alternative security services such as mobile and static security patrols, as well as guard dogs and key-holding services.

In the last two years, small firms have become increasingly targeted by a range of scams, identity fraud, phishing and data theft, Ms Callan said.

“Small companies that do not have the necessary internal controls in place are open season for fraud and theft,” she added.

“It must be treated as an everyday risk and firms that do not take preventive steps are exposing their business to serious losses.”