Following the publication of the fifth Review of the Quality of Crime Statistics in October 2023, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has lifted the 'Under Reservation' categorisation around Recorded Crime Statistics. This is possible because An Garda Síochána have introduced a range of quality measures over the last number of years which have resulted in sustained improvement in the quality of the underlying crime data. These changes give a level of assurance to users that they can rely on Recorded Crime Statistics.
For further information see our Lifting of Under Reservation categorisation for Recorded Crime Statistics FAQ page.
For most crimes, a detection means that a suspected offender is issued with a charge or summons and faces prosecution in the Courts.
As with detections, the longer the gap between the measurement being taken and the end of the reference period, the more time there is to allow for investigations to conclude and for further detections, or in this case prosecutions, to be achieved. As a result, the share of detections classed as a charge or summons for each year tends to increase over time. This feature affects some crime types more than others. The effect of the time lag should be considered in respect of the time series.
The proportion of crime incidents reported in the years 2017 to 2023, which have a valid charge or summons linked to the incident, is shown in Table 4.1. This time series is provided, even though it is not provided for detections more broadly, on the basis that the way in which charges and summons are recorded did not change in 2018, as other detection indicators did.
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