Gardai say a spike in incidents of thefts in the Cork area are due to organised shoplifting.
The Cork County Joint Policing Committee heard how thefts from shops have increased across the three Garda divisions this year.
Gardai say they are seeing a rise again in shoplifters travelling around the country targetting certain towns and shopping centres.
In the Cork city division, incidents of theft from a shop increased from 530 in the first five months of last year to 877 in the same period this year.
Cork North and Cork West have also experienced increases, going up by 51 incidents and 13 incidents respectively.
Gardai say they are actively working to crack down on offenders.
