The amount of headline crime per head of population had fallen to 24 from 29, Minister for Justice Michael McDowell said.
Responding to an Opposition claim that crime levels were rising, the Minister said: "If we are to compare performance with performance, and there is an unwillingness to accept there was a problem, the simple fact is that the problem was very significantly worse when the deputies opposite had some of their members at the Cabinet table."
He said headline crime last year was lower than that for 2003 by 1.6 per cent and for 2002 by 4.4 per cent. "Furthermore in 1995, when we had a population of almost 3.6 million, there were 29 crimes per 1,000 of the population, while in 2005, with a population of over 4.1 million, there were 24.6 crimes per 1,000 of the population, 15 per cent crimes less per 1,000 of the population in 2005 compared to 1995."
Fine Gael justice spokesman Jim O'Keeffe claimed the Minister did not seem to accept that there was a huge crime problem in the country.
Quarterly figures showed an increase of 71 per cent in murder, a 22 per cent increase in robberies from the person, and a 25 per cent increase in thefts from vehicles.
"I have to suggest to the Minister that he is all tongue and no teeth. He promises a lot and delivers little."
Labour spokesman Brendan Howlin said: "The Minister whistles past the graveyard. He always has somebody else to blame." He said that the most recent opinion poll, published last month, showed that 85 per cent of the public were concerned about crime and public disorder, with just 5 per cent of people believing that the level of crime had fallen.
Mr McDowell insisted that the number of gardaí was allowed to drop when the rainbow coalition was in office. "I and my predecessor, Deputy O'Donoghue, have increased the number of gardaí substantially."
