Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 3 Mar 1998

Vol. 488 No. 1

Written Answers - Child Prostitution.

Ivor Callely

Ceist:

195 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Health and Children the age that some children start in child prostitution; if he will provide a breakdown of the age groups; the numbers involved in prostitution in Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5764/98]

Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Mr. Fahey)

In 1997 the Eastern Health Board established a working group on child prostitution to establish in consultation with other appropriate statutory and voluntary agencies the extent of child prostitution in the Eastern Health Board area and to make recommendations regarding measures that can be taken to address the problem.

The working group noted that there were no accurate figures on the extent of child prostitution in Ireland. However, as part of its work the group undertook a survey to investigate the scale of the problem. The survey identified forty seven children and ten young people aged 18 or over who were involved in prostitution at some stage. The report points out that this does not imply that 57 children were all involved in prostitution at the same time.

The age profile of these young people was as follows:

Age	13	14	15	16	17	18
Number of young people	1	8	9	10	19	10

The vast majority operated in inner city Dublin. A very significant finding from the survey was that 46 of the 57 children either had, or were, experiencing homelessness.

The central recommendation of the report was that sufficient numbers of quality placements should be made available which children could readily access and the board is acting on this recommendation. The board is continuing to develop family placements, including additional carer families and supported lodgings, for teenagers and it also plans to develop three localised emergency residential facilities in suburban areas over the next three years.

As a further measure, late in 1997, my Department approved additional funding of £100,000 to the Eastern Health Board to assist in tackling the backlog of fostering assessments.

Plans are also advancing for a day-and-night reception centre in Dublin city centre to facilitate homeless young people in accessing Eastern Health Board services. The centre will have six beds to accommodate young people who are unable to access more regular placements. The centre will provide a gateway to specialist services.