More than 250 children under the age of 10 were referred to a Garda programme last year aimed at cautioning rather than prosecuting children who committed crimes.
Official figures contained in the first annual review of the Garda's diversion programme show 17,000 young people between seven and 17 years of age were referred to the scheme. The main offences committed by young people included theft, drink-related offences, criminal damage, vehicle offences, public order and burglary.
The figures, provided to The Irish Times, show the referrals last year included 600 young people aged between 10 and 11, 680 12- year-olds and 1,200 13-year-olds. Most offences were committed by 16-year-olds (4,431).
Figures show that almost 40 per cent of children were given an informal caution by gardaí, 7 per cent received a formal caution with supervision, while 17 per cent ended up being prosecuted before the courts.
Offending patterns have also changed dramatically over the last five years. Drink-related offences have more than doubled since 1999, while theft, criminal damage and burglary offences have been falling.
The majority of offences occurred between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m, while a significant number tended to occur after school, between 4 p.m and 6 p.m., and later at night, between 10 p.m. and midnight.
The review of the diversion programme, conducted by a five-person committee including three members of the Garda, concluded that it was satisfied with the leadership and efforts made by gardaí in the scheme. It added that research should be conducted to examine the level of recidivism among children in the programme and to examine the process which leads to children appearing before the Children's Court.
Insp Finbarr Murphy of the Garda's National Juvenile Office said the number of young people referred to the diversion programme had remained relatively consistent in recent years. Increasing affluence and tougher anti-drink measures appeared to have resulted in changing offending patterns.
"Newspaper headlines often talk about a surge or a rise in juvenile crime, but the statistics don't show that," Insp Murphy said. "There is a downward trend in burglary and theft offences and an upward trend in drink-related offences. It seems young people are stealing less and drinking more."
While the number of very young children referred to the diversion programme might seem alarming, many of these offences typically involved "minor" offences such as begging and lesser public-order offences.
Insp Murphy said there were a number of encouraging developments in the diversion programme including greater training for gardaí and the launch of the restorative justice programme, in which victims confronted their offenders.
"Our main aim is to keep children out of court through diversion programmes," the inspector continued. "This allows us to pay more attention to the high-risk children who may require greater services or attention."
He said the fact that the majority of offences took place in the evening underlined the need to engage children during these hours by providing suitable recreation or diversion programmes.
Figures suggest more than 80 per cent of children referred to the diversion programme do not reoffend. However, these statistics do not include children who come to the attention of the gardaí and are not prosecuted.