In conjunction with the CSO’s lifting of the ‘Under Reservation’ designation on Recorded Crime Statistics in October 2023, a new Memorandum of Understanding between the CSO and An Garda Siochana (PDF 1,023KB) was agreed and signed in 2024 to ensure that there is effective co-operation between the two bodies and so that both organisations can fulfil their respective statutory obligations for the production of crime statistics as set out in the Garda Síochána Act, 2005 and in accordance with the procedures and requirements of the Statistics Act, 1993. This new Memorandum of Understanding also explicitly outlines expectations concerning data quality checking and reporting of same by An Garda Síochana.
AGS agrees to provide micro-data from its information systems where it is necessary for the production of crime statistics. Aggregate data will also be supplied from some information systems where it is agreed that the provision of micro-data is unnecessary.
The CSO uses the micro-data from AGS information systems to generate and publicly disseminate quarterly and annual crime statistics. The CSO may also use the data in conjunction with its other demographic sources or other administrative sources from the criminal justice system to provide additional aggregate statistical information. These may include, for instance, analyses of the age, educational status, gender or nationality of victims and offenders set in the context of the population as a whole.