One in three SMEs a victim of crime in the past year
The findings were revealed in ISME's Business Crime Survey 2025, showing that 64% of Irish SMEs surveyed said they were unaffected by crime in the past 12 months.
Of the 36% of businesses which did experience crime, 68% were targeted more than once. The most common offences were anti-social behaviour (21%), vandalism (19%), burglary (17%), and phishing attacks (15%).
The report showed that businesses who have been affected are left facing considerable costs, with 28% facing increased security costs, 22% faced higher insurance premiums, and 17% saying they had to make expensive physical alterations to premises.
"It is encouraging that most SMEs avoided crime over the past year, but the reality for repeat victims is stark. These businesses are paying more for security, more for insurance, and losing valuable time and productivity," said ISME chief executive Neil McDonnell.
Of those businesses who have been victims of crime over the past 12 months, 73% rated the response of gardaí as adequate or very effective.
Nevertheless 85% of all SMEs surveyed said they want more gardaí. Some 78% of all respondents believe the judicial system fails to deter repeat offenders, with 76% calling for tougher sentencing, and 73% favouring increased CCTV coverage and data-sharing.
"SMEs are sending a clear message, they want more gardaí on the streets, tougher sentencing, and smarter use of technology like CCTV. If repeat offenders are allowed to operate without consequence, the burden will keep falling on the businesses that can least afford it,' said Mr McDonnell.
ISME's survey showed that three-quarters of businesses are aware of the Garda National Cybercrime Bureau, yet only 9% have engaged with it. Meanwhile, 34% of SMEs spend over €5,000 annually on crime prevention, with CCTV and alarms the most widely used measures.
Extensive research of more than 5,000 court cases from the courts in Cork city published in the Irish Examiner or The Echo between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2024, showed theft was mentioned in a third of all the court cases analysed, with an average sentence of just over 11 months.
Indeed crime data from city garda stations from the CSO reported in the Irish Examiner showed Anglesea Street Garda Station received 1,309 reports of thefts and related offences among 3,328 crimes recorded last year. The Bridewell handled 1,743 crime reports last year, including 696 thefts and related offences.
National crime figures from 2024 showed of 206,371 recorded crimes, 76,178 were for theft and related offences.
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