At least 30 children beg in capital

MORE THAN 30 children and teenagers are involved in begging on streets in Dublin on a regular basis, according to a leading children’s charity.

The majority of children involved in begging are members of the Travelling and Roma communities, according to the 2004-2005 annual report by Leanbh - the special service operated by the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children which works with children who beg.

However, the overall number of sightings of child beggars has fallen by 19% to 785 over the last 12 months.