The Government's failure to develop a policy on children's play has been strongly criticised.
"In the last 20 years the number of cars has increased by 80 per cent and the car now dominates the spaces where children could once play safely," said Dr Richard Webb, a play consultant whose report, Public Policy on Children's Play in Ireland, will be launched today. The report examines central and local government policies on children's play.
While there was some State recognition of the important role of play in childhood development, through initiatives such as the Early Start pre-school programme, the lack of any overall policy gave rise to uneven provision for play, Dr Webb said.
Playgrounds were provided by only half the local authorities in the State which responded to his survey, he said.
"The Government was criticised by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child for not having a strategy in place which recognised the child's right to play under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child."
The failure to incorporate children's play needs into urban planning and development had seriously curtailed play opportunities, he added.
"Children are the most frequent users of the outdoor environment - they spend 40 per cent of their play time travelling from one place to the other. Their whole environment should be childfriendly, with traffic calming measures, safe routes to school, and speed restrictions introduced to enhance their opportunities to move around and play."
The report will be launched today in Trinity College Dublin by the Lord Mayor, Ms Mary Freehill, at a conference on play policies jointly organised by the Dublin Institute of Technology centre for social and educational research and the TCD children's research centre.
Mr Rob Wheway, a British play consultant who will address the conference, said: "Studies have shown that opportunities to play and move about freely in their local environment have health benefits for children and can even enhance their social, physical and decision-making skills."
Ms Noirin Hayes, head of the school of social sciences at the Dublin Institute of Technology, said: "We urgently need to examine the impact of recent societal developments on children, and how we are integrating play into their lives."