asked the Minister for Justice the number of cases heard in the Dublin Children's Court in 1974, 1975 and 1976; and the number of children committed to schools certified under the Children's Act, 1908, in 1974, 1975 and 1976.
Written Answers. - Dublin Children's Court.
342.
The number of cases heard in the Dublin Children's Court in each of the years referred to in the question was as follows:—1974, 21,906; 1975, 22,918; 1976, 20,763.
Those figures do not, of course, represent the number of persons who appeared before the court but rather the number of alleged offences dealt with by the court. Experience shows that persons appearing before the court are, on average, each involved in three or four alleged offences. On that basis the number of persons who appeared before the court in each of the years referred to may be taken to be between 5,000 and 8,000.
The number of children committed to schools certified under the Children Act, 1908, in each of the years referred to was as follows:—1974, 67; 1975, 83; 1976, 82.