Child begging could be ended if the public understood how to best support families in crisis, it was claimed tonight.
The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) revealed there were 973 sightings of child beggars in the last year - a drop of more than a third.
Mr Paul Gilligan, ISPCC chief executive, said while the numbers begging was on the way down more focused efforts and education could keep children off the streets for good.
"The main thing is to help the public understand how to deal with it, and encourage them to support the children and families but don't be throwing money at them," he said.
Mr Gilligan said if sightings had dropped it reflected a real fall in the actual number begging, and he pointed to three main reasons why numbers were on the way down.
Gardaí were more pro-active in linking begging children with support groups instead of prosecuting, the work of ISPCC's Leanbh service impacted on many families and some reductions were due to deportations of foreign nationals.
"There are many families working hard not to be on the streets," he said. "The difficulty is that families try their best but still run into trouble, but we could end children begging, it's one thing we could certainly do if the public could support these families in more constructive ways."
The ISPCC said child begging would only be solved through co-operation and partnership between agencies, families, and young people. But by far the most worrying statistic, Mr Gilligan said, was the 581 children aged between eight and 15 seen begging for money on their own.
He also noted that 171 kids under the age of five were seen.
PA