The survey was supported by ICSA and found that a total of 351 of the 861 respondents had a theft on their farm between 1 January 2014 and 31 May 2016.

This amounted to 652 incidents of theft, with 54% of affected respondents experiencing one theft in the period and 28% having two thefts.

Agricultural diesel accounted for a fifth of all thefts, meaning it was the stolen item with the most incidents recorded in the survey. This accounted for nearly twice the number of incidents of theft of electrical tools recorded which was the second most common type of theft.

Hand tools were stolen in 56 of the incidents in the survey and materials for fencing and building were stolen in 39 incidents. Of the 42 types of theft recorded in the survey, the most common 10 types accounted for 430 of the 554 incidents recorded.

“The ordinary decent people of rural Ireland are outraged that criminals seem to be acting with impunity. Even where insurance is in place, premiums are always at risk of rising significantly as a result of this type of crime,” commented ICSA rural development chair Seamus Sherlock.

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