Parents have been urged to pay particular attention to their children around fireworks and bonfires at Halloween.
The National Safety Council said every year accident and emergency departments were filled with children who received "horrific and very painful injuries" as a result of the misuse of fireworks and bonfires.
"Fireworks are illegal in Ireland for a reason - they are explosive and extremely dangerous," said Mr Alan Richardson, acting chief executive of the National Safety Council. "In the worst cases, children have been maimed as a result of fireworks exploding in their hands or scarred for life by burns caused by trying to light a bonfire with petrol."
He also urged that bonfires take place in a safe area, under adult supervision with the necessary precautions in place to prevent injury. Consuming alcohol while handling fireworks or lighting bonfires was a "lethal combination" he said.
The Senior Help Line, which provides a listening service for older people, is receiving daily calls from people frightened by "bangers" and fireworks.
Ms Mary Nally, help line co-ordinator, said Halloween had become a nightmare for older people because of a "wanton disregard" by unruly and unsupervised children and teenagers.
She said many older people found the winter months very difficult and were "feeling alone and isolated and afraid", often confined to home as a result of the dark evenings. Their distress was being increased by "a bombardment of loud bangs" as children tried to outdo each other.
Callers to the line said their dogs and cats were being frightened by the noise and some had run away. Fireworks were being stuffed into letter boxes and 'bangers' were being thrown at people, animals and houses, she said.
Meanwhile, Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital eye department has found that there was almost a threefold increase in serious eye injuries seen at the hospital after the ban on fireworks was lifted in 1996. It carried out a 12-year study of eye injuries caused by fireworks, covering six years before and six years after the lifting of the firework ban.
The research found that fireworks obtained without a licence continued to cause injury because they were likely to be more dangerous than legal fireworks.
The National Safety Council has also reminded parents to take extra precautions if their children were planning to go trick-or-treating. "The evenings are getting darker, so it's important that your children can be seen by other road-users," Mr Richardson said. " If they are wearing dark clothes or costumes, add reflective material to improve their visibility to motorists."
