An official survey published yesterday appears to confirm that crime levels in the State are considerably higher than the numbers given in annual Garda reports.
It also apparently confirms the long-standing suspicion that there is a high level of non-reporting by the public of certain types of crime.
The CSO's Quarterly National Household Survey for September-November last year included the first national survey of crime and victimisation since 1982. It is the first to be conducted by a Government agency other than the Garda Siochana.
The survey reports that 12 per cent of households nationally, and 20 per cent in Dublin, had been victims of crime in the previous year. The crime list included burglary, car theft, bicycle theft and vandalism.
The survey puts the total number of burglaries, car thefts, thefts from cars, personal thefts, assaults and vandalism at around 280,000.
The last annual report on crime from the Garda put the number of "indictable" offences at 85,600.
A spokesman at the Garda Press Office said yesterday that different "methodology" was used in compiling the annual Garda crime statistics and the CSO report. "The crime we record is the crime that is reported to us."
Asked if there was an awareness of the lack of reporting of crime, he said: "Obviously, we would be concerned about it."
The CSO figures are based on a survey of 39,000 households throughout the State. National figures were extrapolated from the information obtained from the sample households.
The CSO report contains data which tend to support its claim to be an authoritative reflection of the level of crime in society.
The CSO commentary points out that people tend to report crime most often when it is required for insurance claims, as with car thefts.
Discrepancies between the CSO and Garda figures arise in cases where it appears that quite serious offences have been committed, but where significant percentages of the public fail to report them to the Garda.
These include assaults, of which only 62.7 per cent of an estimated 17,200 cases were reported, the CSO suggests. It says that less than 50 per cent of 47,200 theft cases where no violence was experienced were reported, and that the reporting of vandalism was only about 40 per cent of an estimated 99,000 cases.
Reasons given for not reporting burglaries include "not serious enough" (53.2 per cent), and a belief that the Garda could or would do nothing (31.3 per cent). However, a high percentage of people ranked the work of their neighbourhood gardai as good or very good (65 per cent).
While 92.4 per cent of people felt safe in their houses at night, about 29.5 per cent felt unsafe or very unsafe walking in their neighbourhoods at night.