The priest, described in the Church’s National Board for Safeguarding Children report as Father B, was accused of four separate allegations of child sexual abuse between 1995 and 2005.

The DPP failed to prosecute in any of the cases.

Father B worked in the Diocese of Cloyne for a number of years, but has since retired and is living in north Cork.

A senior Garda source has confirmed that two women have made allegations against the same priest, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

The women, who made the allegations in recent days, claim they were abused when they were children. The abuse was said to have occurred more than 20 years ago.

Detectives have interviewed both women at length and are expected to speak to the priest shortly.

"We are treating the allegations made by both women seriously," the Garda source said.

The first complaint against Father B came in 1995 from a girl who complained to Bishop John Magee. A further complaint against the priest was made by a teenage boy and his mother the following September.

Then in December 1997 a woman wrote to the bishop saying Father B had abused her during a religious retreat.

In 2005, a fourth complaint was made to the diocese about Father B by a woman who said that he had raped her regularly for five years.

There are currently four civil cases relating to Father B being processed through the courts.

A spokesman for the diocese of Cloyne was unavailable for comment last night.

Bishop Magee was under strong pressure to resign last month after the NBSC report, published in December, found the diocese was "significantly deficient" in dealing with alleged child abuse cases and "failed to focus on the needs of the vulnerable child".

The report’s author found the bishop had delayed in informing gardaí of complaints and had not removed priests from ministries immediately.

Bishop Magee has said he accepts that there were failings and that he is working to ensure best practice in the diocese now.