DETECTIONS of drugs for personal use and for dealing have rocketed during the pandemic, according to garda figures.

The figures, released by the Central Statistics Office, showed that there were 306 detections made in Cork city for drug dealing in the second quarter of this year, compared with just 193 in the same period last year. 

In north Cork, there were 161 detections - up from 89 in the second quarter of last year. 

However, in west Cork, the situation was the opposite, with detections for personal use down from 93 in the second quarter of last year to 54 this year.

Meanwhile, drug dealing offences in Cork city were up from 42 in the second quarter of last year to 73 this year. In Cork north, there was a slight increase from 24 to 29, while Cork west detections rose from 14 to 24.

Fraud also increased. 

In the city, there were 85 cases of reported fraud, compared with 69 in the second quarter of last year. 

In Cork north, reports rose from 44 to 49 this year, and from 31 to 46 in Cork west.

Shoplifting plummeted in the pandemic, because many premises were closed. 

In Cork city, shoplifting offences fell from 423 to 215, while there was a fall from 108 to 64 in Cork north. In Cork west, there was a slight increase from 23 in the second quarter last year to 27 in the same period this year.

Burglary offences also showed a fall.

This was echoed on a national level.

Sam Scriven, CSO statistician, said: "The impact of Covid-19 restrictions on levels of Recorded Crime is apparent in the latest statistics. The number of burglary offences recorded during Q2 2020 was 52.8% lower than for the equivalent period in 2019. The number of thefts (down by 38.7%) and robberies (down by 29.9%) were also dramatically reduced. Sexual offences and assaults also saw significant decreases, lower by 20.5% and 15.9% respectively in Q2 2020 relative to the corresponding period in 2019."

He added: "The number of victims of assault recorded in Q2 2020 was 989 or 19.2% lower than for the corresponding period in 2019. This fall was mostly accounted for by a reduction in male victims, down 787 (-26%) on Q2 2019. Younger age groups for females showed reductions in the number of victims, however the numbers of female victims in age groups 30-44 (up 13, or 1.8%), and 60 or over (up 14, or 18.4%) were higher in Q2 2020 than in Q2 2019."