Gardaí investigated more than 100 child abduction cases since 2015 according to new figures from the Department of Justice.
Fianna Fáil's TD for Dublin mid-west John Curran asked for the release of the statistics.
He said parents may be getting a false impression of the level of child abduction cases from information circulating on social media.
He said: "That would be my feeling, that the number of issues that have been flagged on social media probably are far greater than the actual number, particularly when you look at last year and the year before where there were in and around 20 abductions per annum.
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"That is not to say parents shouldn't be aware or shouldn't be cautious."
