Respondents were asked about the experiences of their household in the 12 months prior to interview and whether the household had been the victim of burglary or vandalism, or attempt thereof. For the purpose of the survey, these crime types are referred to as ‘household crime’.
2.7% of households said they had been victims of burglary or attempted burglary in the previous 12 months, while 1.7% of households said they had been victims of vandalism. Overall, 3.8% of households stated that they had suffered an incident of household crime in the 12 months prior to interview. These levels of victimisation were slightly lower than those reported in the 2015 survey. See Table 4.1.
Households in the Dublin region were the most likely to be victims of household crime, with 6% of Dublin households saying they had suffered a burglary or theft. 5% of Dublin households were victims of burglary and 3% were victims of vandalism. The Border and West regions saw the lowest levels of household crime with 2% of households being victimised. Households in the most disadvantaged areas (5%) and the most affluent areas (5%) were more likely to experience household crime than households from other deprivation quintiles. See Table 4.2 and Map 4.1.
59% of households that were victims of crime reported some or all incidents to An Garda Síochána. This was higher for incidents of burglary (68%) than for incidents of vandalism (53%). See Table 4.3.
As with personal crime, the most common reason for not reporting household crime incidents to An Garda Síochána was that the victim did not consider the crime to be serious enough or that they had suffered no loss (47% of those who were victims and did not report). See Table 4.4 and Figure 4.1.
| Reason for not reporting some or all incidents to An Garda Siochana | |
| Not serious enough/no loss | 47 |
| Believed the Gardai could do nothing | 27 |
| Believed the Gardai would not do anything | 20 |
| Solved it myself (knew the perpetrator/thief) | 9 |
| Did not wish to involve the Gardai | 8 |
| Other reasons | 6 |
| Feared reprisal | 5 |
| Did not have time | 2 |
| No insurance claim anticipated/could not claim insurance | 1 |
Of households who reported being the victim of either burglary or vandalism, 96% did not identify any motivation for the crime based on characteristics such as age, gender, race etc. 3% of the households that were victims said that they felt the incident was motivated by race, religion or ethnicity. See Table 4.5.
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