It has emerged that the Spiritans in Ireland - also known as the Holy Ghost Order - has paid over €5 million in settlement claims and towards abuse and support services since 2004.
The order confirmed the settlement figure to RTÉ Radio 1's Documentary on One programme, after two siblings spoke about abuse they suffered at Blackrock College during the 1970s and early 1980s.
Their story will be broadcast at 6pm this evening on RTÉ Radio 1, when the documentary titled 'Blackrock Boys' will be aired during the final hour of Drivetime.
Responding to questions from the Documentary on One team, the current Provincial of the Spiritans, Fr Martin Kelly, stated that the order had made "multiple monetary contributions" to people who alleged abuse at the hands of Spiritan community members - and since 2004 the total amount paid by the Spiritans, in settlement of claims of abuse, and towards support services, amounted to over €5m.
Fr Kelly stated that 233 people had made allegations of abuse against 77 Irish Spiritans in ministries throughout Ireland and overseas, according to records.
In relation to Blackrock College, 57 people alleged they were abused on the Blackrock campus.
The Provincial confirmed that the Spiritans/Holy Ghost Order has made settlements with 12 individuals relating to abuse at Blackrock and all settlements have been funded from "Spiritan congregation resources".
Fr Kelly also stated that "it has been the practice of the Spiritan congregation to cover legal fees incurred by its members in connection with their legal representation in criminal cases" in circumstances where members did not have the personal money to do so.
The brothers who feature in tonight's RTÉ Documentary on One are the first to openly speak about the child sexual abuse they suffered at Blackrock College, where the older sibling began his secondary education in September 1973.
During his first year, one of the teachers took a special interest in him and gradually began to sexually abuse him. The priest who abused him was a Holy Ghost/Spiritan father.
The abuse took place during private swimming sessions at the pool on the school campus. Another priest from Blackrock College also began to abuse the boy, who did not tell anyone about it.
His younger brother was 12 when he first began to be invited to swimming sessions by the first priest that abused his older sibling on the grounds of Blackrock College. Over the next number of years, he too was repeatedly sexually abused.
Neither brother spoke of their abuse until early 2002, when clerical child sex abuse dominated news headlines.
This led the brothers to reveal their abuse, first to their parents, and then to one another. They made statements to An Garda Síochána which led to multiple charges being brought against their abuser.
By then the Spiritan priest was 82 years old and still living on the grounds of Blackrock College. He denied the charges made against him and launched a legal case, seeking to halt criminal proceedings.
In 2007, the courts decided that the criminal case against the brothers' abuser should be halted. The Holy Ghost father died in 2010, having never had to face trial.
In 2012, the Spiritans issued a general apology having been heavily criticised in an audit reviewing child protection practices.
This audit also detailed how serial abusers within the Spiritans/Holy Ghost Order went undetected and unchecked, giving them unmonitored access to children during the 1960s, 70s and 80s.