Number of children prosecuted for crimes down 41%

The number of children prosecuted for criminal offences has dropped by 41% over the past decade, according to new figures.

In 2009, the Director of Public Prosecutions instructed 601 cases to go to court where the suspect was under 18.

According to details released under the Freedom of Information Act, this dropped to 354 last year - and 342 so far in 2019.

The stats related to the main charge a suspect faced - so do not include multiple charges.

But Ian Power, from youth organisation SpunOut.ie welcomes the trend.

He said: "I think it's really encouraging to see the trend of young people being prosecuted reducing by such a magnitude.

"It confirms what we know that both the Gardaí Youth Diversion project and the Youth Work Gardaí Youth Diversion project are having the impact that we want them to have."