Gardaí have said that while "opportunistic burglaries" are declining, the risks posed by organised crime networks remain high.
Detective Chief Superintendent Seamus Boland said they have identified at least seven organised crime networks who focus primarily on burglaries across Ireland.
He said they have had lots of success to date in targeting them.
"We are determined to make Ireland a hostile environment for them," he said.
His comments come as a winter phase of Operation Thor begins today.
It is focused on tackling an expected increase in the number of burglaries and associated criminal activity that usually occurs in winter months.
This increased enforcement operation is aimed at preventing burglars from exploiting the reduced hours of daylight.
Since it was introduced a decade ago, there has been a distinct drop in the rate of winter burglaries.
Gardaí said there had been a reduction of approximately 75% in residential burglaries last winter compared to a decade ago.
There are, however, still thousands of homes being broken into each year.
Gardaí estimate that on average there were three burglaries per county each week between April and September of this year.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Detective Chief Superintendent Garda Seamus Boland said that Operation Thor has been a success since its initial launch ten years ago.
"International research has shown us that there’s as much of a 20% increase in burglaries during these winter months, when the daylight hours are at their lowest. What has been achieved in the last ten years is that recorded residential burglaries in Ireland have actually dropped by 75%," he said.
"Back in 2012, we had in excess of 28,000 burglaries recorded. In 2015, we had 26,000 burglaries recorded. There’s only in excess of 9,500 burglaries recorded last year. So far this year, the data is showing us that we have a 15.5% reduction in the number of residential burglaries that have occurred in Ireland during the summer of 2025, compared to the summer of 2024.
"That’s what’s being achieved at the moment, but it’s important that we don’t get complacent, hence we’re launching Operation Thor again."
Supt Boland said gardaí were working closely with the Criminal Assets Bureau and the PSNI to target six "networks" they believe are heavily involved in burglaries and organised crime.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
