asked the Minister for Justice if, having regard to the large number of very young children who beg nightly on the main streets of Dublin, he will have immediate steps taken to stop this practice and to bring home to the parents of the children in question the impropriety of permitting children of tender years to be abroad on city streets unaccompanied at late hours of the night.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Child Beggars In Dublin.
94.
Mr. Ryan
The question seems to suggest, on the one hand, that begging by children on the Dublin streets at night is on a very wide scale and, on the other hand, that it is something that can be eliminated overnight by Garda action. I do not accept either of these suggestions.
I am, however, aware that there is some begging by children at night on some streets in the heart of the city. The matter is one to which the Garda Síochána have been giving special attention, including attention by plainclothes personnel, and last year proceedings were instituted against 81 children and 21 parents in respect of this offence. The Garda Síochána are, of course, fully alive to the fact that in many cases it is the parents who are to blame and they act accordingly. Recently, special additional instructions were issued to the Force in Dublin in connection with the matter and ways and means of dealing with it have been discussed at the regular meetings that take place between officers in the DMD.
Mr. Ryan
I am told it is a frequent sight to see children spending the earnings of their begging on the purchase of ice cream at parlours in O'Connell Street. Would the Minister consider whether steps should be taken to prohibit the sale of ice cream to children——
You have put your foot in it now, anyway.
Mr. Ryan
——After certain hours at night. I do not think it is desirable to see them——
The Deputy may not be very popular in his own household over this.
Mr. Ryan
It is certainly not allowed abroad at 10 p.m., 11 p.m. or midnight.