GARDAÍ ARRESTED 65 parents or guardians who allowed their children to beg on the streets during a nine-month period last year.
Support groups who work with child beggars said there has been a sharp increase in begging in recent months, particularly in the Christmas period.
The Leanbh service of the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children said most, but not all, child begging was being carried out by Roma and Travellers.
New figures published by the Central Statistics Office show 65 offences of allowing a child under 16 to beg, compared to 73 offences recorded in the whole of 2009.
Almost all offences, involving some 63 people, were recorded in the Dublin area, with two registered outside the capital.
Dublin Lord Mayor Gerry Breen has said there was evidence of “systematic organised begging” in Dublin city centre, which was destroying the commercial fabric of shopping areas.
He said he came across eight beggars on a five-minute walk who were mainly Roma. There was a degree of intimidation involved in this type of organised begging, he said, calling on politicians to enact a Bill to give the Garda more powers to tackle it.
The Criminal Justice (Public Order) Bill 2010 has just completed committee stage in the Dáil and should pass into law shortly unless the Government falls before it can be enacted.
The Bill gives the Garda new powers to direct persons who are begging to desist and to move on from the area. These powers may be exercised at a variety of locations, including in the vicinity of ATMs, vending machines, entrances to private dwellings and business premises.
The Bill includes new offences relating to organised begging, with maximum penalties of up to five years’ imprisonment proposed.
“People will continue to have the right to beg on our streets, but the new law is aimed at stopping the harassment, intimidation and obstruction of citizens by people begging,” said a spokesman for Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern.
Charities working with children who beg warned that criminalising children and their parents would not help the situation.
Adriana Fechete, manager of the Leanbh service, said she was not aware of organised begging taking place in Dublin.
“What we need is more support services to address the root cause of begging and an effort to change attitudes,” she said.
The new law is being proposed following a High Court judgment in 2008 which found the current law, which dates from 1847, is unconstitutional.
The court found the existing law was “vague” and represented a disproportionate interference with the Constitution’s provisions on freedom of expression and freedom to communicate.