A report on allegations of abuse at schools run by religious orders is to be published on Tuesday afternoon, following Cabinet agreement to establish a statutory inquiry into the matter.
The 700-page report was commissioned last year from senior counsel Mary O’Toole following accounts of abuse at Blackrock College in Dublin.
The scoping inquiry conducted by Ms O’Toole included religious-run boarding and day schools, and it is understood that the report features schools run by many different religious orders. Sources say that there may be thousands of cases of sexual abuse in the schools.
Minister for Education Norma Foley secured agreement at Cabinet on Tuesday morning to establish a statutory inquiry, which is understood to include all types of schools, rather than just those run by religious orders.
The Minister will hold a press conference on the issue at 4.30pm, with the report expected to be published shortly after. Follow us here for live updates on the report and reaction from survivors.
Almost 2,400 allegations of historical sexual abuse at 308 schools run by religious orders have been disclosed to the Government-appointed scoping inquiry.
The allegations were made against 884 alleged abusers. The religious orders said that more than half of the 884 accused abusers are known to be deceased.
The scoping inquiry report said that the total number of allegations likely exceeds the stated figure given the level of underreporting of childhood sexual abuse.
The inquiry also found that, among the 2,395 allegations reported overall, there is a particular high number of allegations in special education schools where there were 590 allegations recorded in 17 special schools involving 190 alleged abusers.
The report was written by Mary O’Toole SC, who was appointed by Ms Foley after an RTÉ documentary was broadcast about Mark and David Ryan, two survivors of abuse at the Spiritan-run Blackrock College in Dublin.