The findings of the first survey on crime by the Central Statistics Office reveal disparities between the number of crimes the public says has happened and the number of such crimes recorded in the Garda's annual report.
Figures in the Quarterly National Household Survey on Crime and Victimisation put the figure for the number of burglaries for the 12-month period to the end of November 1998 at 52,900. The Annual Report of the Garda Siochana for 1998 gives the number as 25,730.
Similarly, the CSO report puts the number of thefts from cars at 47,200. The Garda report records some 12,377 instances of "larcenies from vehicles".
The CSO report records 17,200 instances of assault. The 1998 Garda report records a total of 8,793.
By contrast with the apparent under-reporting of some types of crime, there are strong similarities in the number of car thefts recorded in both the Garda and CSO reports.
The CSO records some 16,500 car thefts. The Garda report for 1998 records 13,793 "unauthorised takings" (as car thefts are mainly referred to by gardai), and 1,500 cases of "larceny" of cars.
The director of the CSO, Mr Gerry O'Hanlon, said yesterday the survey revealed levels of crime which might not register in Garda figures, but the CSO and Garda figures were not incompatible. Many people did not report crime for a variety of reasons.
He said: "It is difficult to make direct comparisons between the two as they have different sources and different applications. In general you will find that the number of incidents of crimes reported or identified in a survey of this nature is higher than would be recorded by the Garda annual report.
"There is a degree of accord in some areas, as in theft of vehicles. It is much poorer, say, in areas such as vandalism."
A spokesman at the Garda press office said yesterday it had only just received the CSO report and was delighted to have statistics with which it could compare its own annual crime figures.
Garda statistics concerned only crime which was reported. "If crime is not reported to us we cannot do anything about it," he said.
The last annual Garda report contained crime figures putting the number of "indictable" or serious offences committed in the State at just over 85,600.
While not directly comparable, the CSO report records some 280,500 cases of burglary, car theft, theft from cars, personal theft with and without violence and assault.
The CSO report also shows there is very little support in the way of counselling for victims of crime. Only 2.9 per cent of people who suffered assault or violent theft received counselling. Only 0.2 per cent of victims of non-violent crimes received counselling.