The An Garda Síochána Property App is a new app that will allow the public to index and record pieces of property such farm machinery which will aid recovery if stolen.

The app, which was launched at Ploughing 22, will be of “great benefit to farmers”, according to Superintendant Barry Doyle.

He said: “The app is designed for people from all walks of life but I think farmers will get a great benefit out of it in relation to their agricultural machinery. It's an opportunity for farmers out there to record exactly what machinery they have on their farm, from tractors to power tools.

“A lot of the time we see incidences whereby people are reporting stolen property, but they don't have the model and serial number.”

According to An Garda Síochána, property that is clearly marked is less attractive to a thief as it is more difficult to sell on.

The app will enable people to take photographs, record receipts, store registration codes and photograph the property markings.

The app can be downloaded for free on Google Play Store or the Apple Store.

It can also be downloaded from the Garda website. Once downloaded, you can safely record your personal information in the app and then begin to record your property. Any information entered into the app is then either stored locally on the device, or backed up to your cloud account – whichever is your preference – thus leaving you in charge of your own data at all times.

An Garda Síochána recommends you make a regular backup as the onus is on you as owner of your data within the app. No data will be stored by An Garda Síochána.

In the situation where the user has their property stolen, the app also has the facility to report the theft to An Garda Síochána.

This feature allows the user to select the item that was stolen and easily and securely report the theft to An Garda Síochána. This is a similar process to that of the Declaration of Theft of Property process on the Garda Website.

The benefit of having all of the records on their app is that an investigating Garda will have access to better and more detailed information on the stolen property, such as serial numbers, receipts and images of the stolen items, all of which will assist with the investigation.