Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has welcomed the falling crime rate in the first quarter of the year, saying the programme of Garda reform and "record resourcing" were paying dividends.
Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy and his force "were to be commended".
Mr McDowell said the reduction in headline crime of 5.6 per cent in the quarter compared with the same period last year followed reductions of 2.3 per cent and 1.2 per cent in the last two quarters of 2006.
"As a result of this positive trend, there was a decrease of 2.2 per cent in the year-on-year figure at the end of the first quarter," said Mr McDowell.
However, Fine Gael's spokesman on drugs Damien English said cases of drug dealing had increased by 25 per cent, to 852 cases, in the quarter.
"No community should have to watch while thugs openly deal drugs in their neighbourhood without the slightest fear of the law," he said.
Labour's justice spokesman Brendan Howlin said rates of offending in some of the most serious categories had also increased, with serious offences being committed 2,000 times per week.
"While the small decrease in the overall level of headline crime in this quarter is welcome, the increase in a range of specific offences, such as abductions, arson and robberies targeting individuals, is particularly worrying," he said.
Apart from the increase in cases of drug dealing, the number of abductions increased from six to nine. Discharging of firearms increased by almost 42 per cent compared with the same period last year, from 60 to 85.
Despite this increased gun crime activity the number of recorded cases of possession of firearms fell by 15 per cent, from 103 in the first quarter of last year to 88 in the same period this year.
Senior Garda sources said the increase in the number of drug detections was at least partly due to the effectiveness of the Garda National Drug Unit.
Other targeted operations aimed at organised crime in the first quarter had resulted in other positive trends, including:
• Murders down 23 per cent, from 13 cases to 10 cases.
• Robbery of establishments down 28 per cent from 336 to 241 cases.
• Robbery of cash in transit down 12 per cent to seven cases.
Also down were the numbers of recorded rapes and sexual attacks. The number of reported rapes fell by 41 per cent to 69. Sexual assaults were down 51 per cent to 191 cases.
Rape Crisis Network Ireland director Fiona Neary said public confidence in the legal system's ability to tackle sexual offences has been "rocked" over the past year following a Supreme Court ruling last May.
On that occasion legislation on statutory rape was struck down in a dispute over a defendant's right to put forward a defence of honest mistake as to a victim's age.
Ms Neary said the controversy following the "CC" case had not been fully addressed by a Government which has "to date failed to hold the required referendum to reinstate strict liability in statutory rape offences". She also criticised inconsistent sentencing.
