Children commit 9% of all recorded crimes in Ireland

Close to one in 10 of all crimes reported in Ireland are committed by children, with under-18s responsible for more than half of all car and bicycle thefts, trespass offences, arson, unlawful collections, fireworks offences, and robberies from the person.

The annual report of the committee appointed to monitor the effectiveness of the Garda Juvenile Diversion Programme reveals that 9% of all recorded crimes in 2014 were committed by juveniles.

A total of 19,854 incidents were referred to the diversion programme, which represented a 3% reduction on 2013 figures. Such cases involved 9,991 individual children — down from 10,420 in the previous years.