Crimes against tourists fell by 9 per cent in 1997, compared to the previous year, with 3,651 offences recorded or an average of 10 a day. Of this total, 87 per cent were larcenies.
Some 86 tourists were injured in crimes in 1997, or 2 per cent of all tourists who reported crimes.
Almost nine out of 10 crimes against tourists were recorded in the Dublin region. The detection rate increased from 17 per cent to 21 per cent.
While the report shows a drop in the number of syringe robberies, from 1,104 in 1996 to 893 last year, it charts the rise in this type of crime.
In 1993, syringes robberies made up 18 per cent of armed robberies and burglaries. By last year, they accounted for 78 per cent of such robberies.
Burglaries accounted for almost a third of all serious crimes in 1997. However, the total decreased by 8 per cent on the 1996 figure.
House burglaries in city areas - Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford and Dublin - fell by 9 per cent, with other types of burglaries falling by 14 per cent.
The report also details the activities of the Garda Air Support Unit, which began operations in September 1997.
Almost one third of flights by the Garda helicopter and fixed-wing plane involved security operations in these first four months.
These included covert surveillance on drug and terrorist suspects and the provision of security for State visits.
The unit had taken 723 flights by the end of 1997. More than 500 of the flights or tasks were undertaken by the twin-engine helicopter.
The remainder was carried out by the fixed-wing aircraft, which can fly for longer and can be used for covert surveillance.
Some 15 per cent of tasks involved pursuits. This would be where the air unit would be requested by units on the ground pursuing stolen vehicles or people escaping from scenes of crimes.
Some 7 per cent of flights involved searches for property and people, another 7 per cent involved robberies, and the same proportion was spent on escorts involving prisoners and cash deliveries.
Four per cent of tasks involved armed incidents, 6 per cent was spent policing traffic and events, one in 20 flights involved public disturbances and one in 20 flights were demonstrations or public relations flights.
