Respondents were asked about the extent to which they worry about being a victim of crime in relation to the following types of crime:
Fear of crimes which could result in damage to or loss of their property was the type of crime people worried about most frequently. Almost a quarter (23%) of people aged 18 years and over said they worried “all the time” or “often” about being a victim of property crime, compared to 20% who said they worried about being a victim of fraud, 20% who worry about crime arising from using the internet, and 15% who worry about crime which could result in physical harm or injury to them. Around half of people - varying between 42% and 51% for different types of crime - said they "don't worry at all" about crime. See Tables 2.1 to 2.4 and Figure 2.1.
| All the time | Often | Rarely | Don't worry at all | |
| Crime causing physical injury | 3 | 12 | 35 | 51 |
| Crime that could result in damage or loss to property | 4 | 19 | 35 | 42 |
| Crime involving fraud targeting personal finances or data | 3 | 17 | 34 | 47 |
| Crime arising from use of the internet | 3 | 17 | 32 | 49 |
15% of persons aged 18 years and over said they worried “all the time” or “often” about being a victim of a crime which might result in physical harm to them. Females (19%) expressed a higher level of worry than males (11%) about this type of crime. The level of worry also increased with greater levels of deprivation (using Pobal Haase-Pratschke Deprivation Index). Almost one in five (19%) people living in the most disadvantaged areas of the country said they worried “all the time” or “often” about crime which might result in physical harm to them, compared to just over one in ten (12%) in the most affluent areas. Just over half (51%) said they "don't worry at all" about this type of crime. See Table 2.1.
Almost a quarter (23%) of people aged 18 years and over said they worried “all the time” or “often” about being a victim of crimes that could result in damage or loss of property belonging to them. This level of worry was most common in the Mid-East (28%), Dublin (25%) and Midland (25%) regions. Over half of people aged 18 years and over (51%) in the West region said they "don't worry at all" about this type of crime. See Table 2.2.
The proportion of people who worried “all the time” or “often” about being a victim of fraud targeting personal finance or data was 20%, while the figure for being a victim of crime specifically arising from their use of the internet was also 20%. In each case, the figure was highest in the 45-59 age group, in the Midland and Mid-East Regions, and in the third quintile level of deprivation. The proportion of people who said they "don't worry at all" about these types of crime was considerably lower among people from the most affluent areas of the country (39% for both types) than from the most disadvantaged areas (52% didn't worry about fraud, 57% didn't worry about internet use). See Tables 2.3 and 2.4.
Respondents were asked how safe they felt walking in their local area at night in the 12 months prior to interview. 75% of people aged 18 and over said they felt “very safe” or “fairly safe”. This feeling of safety was considerably lower for females (64%) than for males (87%). More than twice as many males than females reported feeling “very safe” (60% compared to 29%). Feelings of safety increased with decreasing levels of deprivation (69% in very disadvantaged areas compared to 78% in very affluent areas). People in Dublin expressed the highest levels of feeling either “a little unsafe” or “very unsafe”, at 28% of persons aged 18 and over, compared to 19% of persons aged 18 and over in the Border and West regions. See Table 2.5 and Figure 2.2.
| Very safe | Fairly safe | A little unsafe | Very unsafe | |
| Male | 60 | 27 | 9 | 4 |
| Female | 29 | 35 | 22 | 14 |
| First quintile - very disadvantaged | 36 | 33 | 18 | 13 |
| Second quintile - disadvantaged | 46 | 30 | 16 | 9 |
| Third quintile - average | 46 | 31 | 15 | 9 |
| Fourth quintile - Affluent | 51 | 27 | 13 | 9 |
| Fifth quintile - Very affluent | 43 | 35 | 16 | 5 |
Respondents were asked whether they felt that crime or anti-social behaviour in their local area had impacted on their quality of life. One third (33%) of people aged 18 and over said that crime had an impact, while 29% felt that anti-social behaviour in their local area impacted their quality of life. Both indicators were highest in Dublin where 40% said that crime and anti-social had impacted their quality of life to some extent. The proportion of all persons aged 18 and over who said that crime, or anti-social behaviour, had impacted their quality of life “to a great extent” were 3% and 2% respectively. See Tables 2.6 and 2.7.
Respondents were asked about how effectively they felt that An Garda Síochána were tackling crime both locally and at national level. Overall, over two thirds (68%) of persons aged 18 and over said that they felt the Gardaí were "very effective" (17%) or "quite effective" (51%) at tackling crime in their local area. Similar levels (64% of persons aged 18 and over indicating “very” or “quite” effective) were felt for crime at national level. One in ten (10%) said they felt An Garda Síochána were “not effective at all” locally, while 8% felt that An Garda Síochána were “not effective at all” nationally. See Tables 2.8 and 2.9 and Figure 2.3
| Very effective | Quite effective | Not very effective | Not effective at all | |
| Crime in local area | 17 | 51 | 21 | 10 |
| National events | 10 | 54 | 27 | 8 |
The proportion who felt that An Garda Síochána were “very effective” or “quite effective” both locally and at a national level was highest among persons aged 60 and over (72% locally and 66% at national level), whereas 65% of persons aged between 18 and 29 felt the Gardaí were “very effective” or “quite effective” at local level and again 65% feeling likewise at national level. The Mid-East region exhibited the lowest levels for feeling that the Gardaí were either “very effective” or “quite effective” (63% of persons aged 18 and over both locally and at national level), while the highest levels were in the South-East region (77% for local crime and 67% for national level crime). See Tables 2.8, 2.9 and Figure 2.3.
56% of persons living in disadvantaged areas felt the Garda Síochána were “very effective” or “quite effective” locally and 57% at a national level. The corresponding figures for those living in very affluent areas was 77% and 67% respectively. See Tables 2.8, 2.9 and Figure 2.3.
46% of persons aged 18 and over said they felt “very confident” or “quite confident” that that the wider criminal justice system has brought people who commit crimes in Ireland to justice while almost a fifth (18%) of persons aged 18 and over said they were “not confident at all”. Feelings of confidence were highest among people aged 18 to 29 (48%), with the age group 45-59 years having the lowest levels of confidence (43% of these persons being "very" or "quite" confident that persons are brought to justice in Ireland). Analysing these findings by relative affluence or deprivation levels, we can see that the lowest levels of confidence were felt by those living in very disadvantaged areas, with 38% of persons aged 18 or over in the most disadvantaged areas feeling "very" or "quite" confident that people are brought to justice in Ireland, compared to 53% of those living in the most affluent areas. See Table 2.10.
Irish nationals indicated that they worried about crime more than non-Irish nationals. 16% of Irish nationals aged 18 or over said they worried “all the time” or “often” about crimes which could result in physical harm or injury, compared to 13% of non-Irish nationals aged 18 or over. Irish nationals aged 18 or over were also more worried about property crime (23% compared to 18%) and about fraud or deception crime (20% compared to 16%) than their non-Irish counterparts. Worry about crimes arising from use of the internet was slightly higher among non-Irish nationals with 21% of non-Irish nationals aged 18 or over saying they worried “all the time” or “often” compared to 20% for Irish nationals. See tables 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 and 2.4.
Non-Irish nationals aged 18 or over said they felt safer walking in their local area at night (78% compared to 75%) than Irish nationals. Non-Irish nationals said, however, that they felt that anti-social behaviour in their local area had an impact on their quality of life more than Irish nationals (36%, compared to 28% for Irish nationals). See tables 2.5, 2.6 and 2.7.
A slightly greater proportion of non-Irish nationals aged 18 or over felt the Gardaí were "very" or "quite" effective at tackling crime than Irish nationals (69% compared to 68% at local level, and 77% compared to 74% at national level). Non-Irish nationals had greater confidence than Irish nationals that people who committed crimes were brought to justice in Ireland (58% compared to 44% felt "very" or "quite" confident). See tables 2.8, 2.9 and 2.10.
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