The number of children in State care has doubled over the last 17 years, with more than 5,300 young people now in care, new unpublished figures show.
Despite the economic success of the last decade, more than half entered the care system because of neglect, family difficulties such as housing or finance, and the inability of parents to cope.
Much smaller numbers were linked to physical or sexual abuse.
Overall, the number of children in care represents a significant increase over 1989, when 2,700 children were in care, compared with last year when 5,336 were in care.
Many social workers suggest the reasons behind the long-term rise include increased pressure on families, addiction problems among parents and an increase in the number of single-parent families, as well as a lack of traditional support networks such as the extended family or community.
However, experts in the Health Service Executive (HSE) suggest the rise may also be due to greater awareness and a better response to child-protection concerns.
Under the new HSE regional divisions, most children in care were in the Dublin Mid-Leinster area (1,438), followed by the south (1,411), Dublin northeast (1,356) and the west (1,131).
A more detailed breakdown for figures compiled in previous years shows that children are twice as likely to be admitted to care in the Greater Dublin Area as those in the west.
The Cari Foundation (Children At Risk in Ireland) said the figures highlighted a lack of preventive services in place for families in crisis. These could play a crucial role in allowing supporting parents to raise their children in difficult circumstances.
Aidan Waterstone, the HSE's director of child and family services, said the focus of health services in recent years had been to develop the capacity of child-protection services.
He said the main focus of the HSE was now on delivering and expanding a broad range of family-support services. As these services are extended, they may begin to reduce the numbers being admitted into State care.
The HSE figures for 2006 show that most children were placed in foster care (60 per cent), followed by foster care with relatives (28 per cent), residential care (8 per cent) or other forms of placement (4 per cent).
