There has been a huge increase in the number of cars being stolen, new garda statistics have revealed.
Second-hand cars that have been imported from outside the EU are particularly vulnerable to theft due to a lack of security features. There were over 4,000 vehicles reported stolen in 2022 - a 52% increase on 2021 and a 17% increase on 2019.
A garda spokesman said the increase "is driven by the theft of second-hand imported cars from outside the European market, which may be due to the lack of security features in the most commonly stolen imported vehicles. For instance, many second-hand car imports do not have a fully fitted car alarm system or are without a fitted immobiliser.
