Gardai have warned parents and guardians about children's safety after receiving 38 reports in the past two months of attempts to lure children into vehicles.
Most of the attempts, 27, were made in the Dublin area but gardai also received reports from midland locations, including Portlaoise, Mullingar, Monasterevin as well as Thurles, Dundalk and Cork, where three incidents occurred.
"We have no evidence to suggest there is a paedophile ring in operation," said Insp Simon O'Connor of the Garda Press Office, "but we are concerned and would like parents to speak to their children and warn them not to talk to strangers, or to play in isolated areas."
Yesterday, Fine Gael's spokesman on children, Mr Dan Neville, criticised the Government for failing to introduce a register of sex offenders. "Since the introduction of a register in Britain and Northern Ireland, there is evidence that child-sex abusers are travelling to this State," he said.
"Many crimes are vicious and unpleasant but the crime of sexually abusing a child, robbing them of their innocence, is surely so repugnant that we are entitled to look for special ways of dealing with it and making clear our abhorrence of such activities."
Insp O'Connor said there were different cars and different descriptions of people involved in the attempted abductions. There was nothing to suggest that the incidents were linked. In one less serious case, a 13-year-old girl reported people staring at her at traffic lights.
In most attempts, men approached the children who ranged in age from eight to 14, but there were some couples involved. Attempts were made to bundle children into cars. In one incident, the would-be abductor wanted to take a photograph, in another, sweets were offered, and in a third, a child was told that their mother had sent the person to collect them.
Insp O'Connor said that no arrests had been made. Nothing had happened in any of these cases; the children ran away or were with others. "Children seem to be getting the message but it is important that their parents talk to them. These people are preying on children outside schools, in parks and isolated areas."
The Garda Press Office warned that children should:
Not take sweets, lifts or talk to strangers without their parents' consent;
Not approach strangers in cars while travelling to or from school or while out playing;
Not play alone or become isolated from other friends;
Wear bright reflective clothing during the hours of darkness.
Gardai have also advised that parents should:
Know the whereabouts of their children at all times;
Never put their children in a position where they have to wait alone outside a school for collection;
Teach their children to use the 999 or 112 system (the EU equivalent of 999) responsibly and how to deal with emergencies at home like fires.
