Almost one in every five Irish farms experienced trespassing in 2019, a report from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has shown.

Trespassing on land was the most frequently reported farm crime in 2019 relating to 18% of farming respondents who took part in the CSOs crime and victimisation survey.

Over a fifth (21%) of the farming households surveyed said that a crime or crimes had been committed against the farm in the 12 months prior to interview.

Survey

Respondents in farming households were asked a series of questions relating to their experience of crimes specific to farms.

The next highest category of crime was theft of farm machinery relating to 2% of the farming respondents.

Theft and interfering with livestock related to 1% of the respondents while theft of a farm vehicle related to 0.5%.