Vol. 496 No. 7
154 Mr. Neville asked the Minister for Health and Children the proposals, if any, he has to deal with the issue of child begging in view of the fact that a recent survey outlined that almost 3,000 incidents were recorded on the streets of Dublin in 12 months with nearly one third under ten years of age; if his Department has information on child begging; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23901/98]
I understand from inquiries to the health boards that the problem of children begging is mainly concentrated in the Eastern Health Board region, primarily in Dublin.
I assume the Deputy is referring to the statistics on children begging quoted in the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Leanbh initiative first annual report. The Leanbh report indicates that the majority of the children begging in Dublin city centre are members of the travelling community. The Eastern Health Board has informed my Department that the number of children involved is relatively small and they come from a small number of families who are well known to the authorities. In general, the response of the Eastern Health Board has been to work with the travelling community and relevant voluntary groups rather than adopting a confrontational approach.
The board, in conjunction with other agencies, supports a pre-school and a school for approximately 60 traveller children, a resource centre which provides amongst other services an after-school and youth programme, a drop-in service, advice, counselling and a social work service. The board also provides financial assistance to the operating costs of residential centres for children from the travelling community.
