Almost 1,000 children begging on streets of Dublin

09/12/2004 - 10:10:16
Almost 1,000 children were seen begging on the streets of Dublin in the last year, according to a report published today by the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC).

The ISPCC said this represented a 37% decrease over the number of children seen begging on the streets of the capital in the previous year.

It expressed concern that more than 170 of the child beggars spotted this year were aged four years or younger.

The report said many of the children involved in begging were members of the Traveller and Roma communities.

A separate survey published by the ISPCC today found that 90% of people believe such children are in danger, but almost half do nothing about the problem.