Ahern: 'Ireland’s low crime rate is envy of Europe'
The Taoiseach told the Dáil this afternoon that rates of crime in Ireland are down.
He was reacting to questions by opposition leader Enda Kenny, arising out comments made yesterday by Minister for Justice Michael McDowell, who compared Fine Gael's Richard Bruton to a Nazi.
Bertie Ahern said the figures showed that Ireland has a declining crime rate that's the envy of Europe.
“There's not more robbers,” Mr Ahern said. “Per thousand of population, the crime rate is down.”
“Our crime against Irish standards is down on what it was, and against international standards.
“Of course, as I've always said, any crime is a crime too many.
“A fact is across the records, these are the statistics.
Labour Leader Pat Rabbitte said the Taoiseach's figures were all wrong.
“The fact of the matter is that the crime rates are worsening, and more seriously the detection rates are worsening, he said.
“If you take the Dublin area that has been the subject of this controversy, Dublin homicides for example were up 53% last year, and yet detection rates have fallen in Dublin to 32%.
