The Garda has set up a system to co-ordinate information about and oversee the investigation of reported attempts to abduct children. There have been about 50 reports of suspicious approaches to children since early October.
The Garda Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, has decided that all information about child abduction attempts will be co-ordinated by the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Unit in Harcourt Square, Dublin.
Last week it was announced that information about such incidents would be collated by the Trace (Tracing, Reviewing and Collating Evidence) unit in Naas, set up to investigate similarities between the disappearances of a number of young women in recent years.
However, Supt John Farrelly of the Garda Press Office said yesterday that the Commissioner had deemed the problem serious enough to warrant its transfer to the Harcourt Square unit who could "focus on it without diversion".
Supt Farrelly emphasised that until now no child had actually been abducted. However, with so many recent reports of suspicious approaches to children, "there is no smoke without fire, and we want to strive to prevent these things happening."
The most recent incident was last Wednesday, when a teenage boy was approached in Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow, and "begged" to accompany a middle-aged man to Bray, some seven miles away. The man was said to be driving a gold-coloured hatchback car.
Other recent incidents have been reported in Dublin city centre, Navan Road, Artane, Clontarf, Finglas, Crumlin, Inchicore, Rathfarnham, Knocklyon, Tallaght, Walkinstown and Blanchardstown. Outside the Dublin area suspicious approaches have been reported in Dunboyne, Drogheda, Dundalk, Portlaoise, Portarlington, Mullingar, Cork and Cavan.
Supt Farrelly said some reports were trivial or the result of a misunderstanding, such as a motorist asking directions from a child, or a parent waiting outside a school looking at another child. However, there were also more serious examples, such as a suspicious approach being followed an hour later by another involving a similar car or person in a nearby area.
The Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Unit, headed by Det Insp Thomas Dixon, will correlate all information, and try to establish patterns or linkages between the reported incidents and the identity of suspected persons.
Supt Farrelly said any incidents should be reported to local Garda stations. He also issued some precautionary advice for parents:
At all times know the whereabouts of your children.
Never put children in a position where they have to wait alone outside a school or other public place for collection.
Encourage them to play in groups. There is safety in numbers.
Warn children never to take lifts from or approach strangers.
Teach children to use the 999 emergency number.