The minister has announced that a Commission of Investigation is to be established to examine historical sexual abuse claims in day and boarding schools.
Almost 2,400 allegations of historical sexual abuse were recorded by 308 schools run by religious orders across Ireland, a Government-ordered scoping inquiry has revealed.
The report, due to be published later, said the allegations were made against 884 alleged abusers in day and boarding schools run by 42 religious orders.
The scoping inquiry said it had contacted 73 religious orders that ran or are still running schools in Ireland, with 42 having records of historical sexual abuse allegations.
There were a “particularly high number of allegations” in special schools, with 17 special schools recording 590 allegations involving 190 alleged abusers.
It added that around half of the alleged abusers are believed to be dead.
The “distressing” and “harrowing” report into the scale of alleged historical sexual abuse in day and boarding schools has predicted that the scale of the alleged abuse could be much wider, due to underreporting from survivors.
The report said the alleged abuse happened between the 1960s and the early 1990s, with the highest number of reported incidents occurring in the early to mid-1970s.
The landmark scoping report heard allegations of abuse in schools in 22 counties across Ireland. Over 180 survivors, the “overwhelming majority” of whom were men, spoke about their experiences.
The report heard from many survivors who said that “their childhood stopped the day the abuse started".
Survivors recounted “appalling childhood sexual abuse,” carried out in classrooms, dormitories, sports facilities and even in their own homes after alleged abusers had gained the trust of their own families.
Many spoke of their strong belief that what was happening was so pervasive that it could not possibly have gone unnoticed by other staff, and the members and leadership of the religious orders.
Many participants felt there had been a cover-up in their schools or by the religious order and some believed there was collusion between some institutions of the State and the church, the report, which has been shared with survivors today, said.
Suffering from sexual abuse had a lifelong effect on survivors, many of whom isolated themselves from friends and family, moved away from school and from their faith, or emigrated from Ireland altogether.
The scoping inquiry found that survivors of abuse wanted the State to carry out a statutory inquiry into historical abuse and a redress scheme. The scoping inquiry has recommended a commission of investigation into the handling of complaints in religious schools, in order to meet the request of survivors who asked for the “least adversarial” option.
The report has also recommended that the Government consider setting up a redress scheme for survivors, and approach "the relevant religious orders about contributing to a redress scheme”.
Speaking at a press conference at Government Buildings this afternoon, Ms Foley, who became emotional while reading out the statement, said: “This is the first time, and we shouldn’t underestimate this, the first time that the scale of child sexual abuse allegations in schools run by religious orders has been disclosed based on information supplied by religious orders themselves and by survivors.
“It covers schools all across the country.”
She added: “The level of abuse is shocking, it is truly shocking.”
The minister said that a redress scheme for survivors will be considered.
“There are many steps we need to take here. The principle and most important which is setting up Commission of Investigation,” the Fianna Fáil minister added.
“Issues like redress are part of recommendations and will be looked at.”
She said there was an “urgency” to have matters completed.
“The fact that so much was achieved in short term speaks of the determination of everybody involved to do this in a short timeframe as possible.
“Within the report, it is made clear that (redress) contribution should be made by religious orders. There is a priority given to moving as quickly as possible. The survivors were clear they have lived with this all their lives.
“It had a destructive influence on their relationships, and some have left the country. It is quite horrific the long-term impact.”
The report reveals how a large number of larger religious orders have expressed concerns about participating in the major inquiry into historical sexual abuse at day and boarding schools.
The report said that while the majority of religious orders were willing “at least in principle” to cooperate with a future inquiry some had put conditions or caveats on their willingness to provide testimony or key documents.
The report said that the “common theme” was that “the majority of orders stated a willingness, at least in principle, to engage with a future inquiry”.
“However, a number of orders, and in particular a number of the larger orders, regarded it as necessary for the inquiry to have an appropriate legal framework, including powers of compellability and privileges and immunities for witnesses.”
The Christian Brothers told the scoping inquiry that while they were willing to cooperate with and provide documents to such an inquiry, the order was “not sure” if it would give evidence.
A number of religious orders including the Spiritans and the De La Salle Brothers said that while they were willing to cooperate in principle they had GDPR concerns relating to the handing over of documents.
The report said that a large number of larger religious orders had expressed concerns about participating in the major inquiry.
The Spiritans told the scoping inquiry that as the testimony at the inquiry “would impact the reputational rights of third parties, it would be essential that the usual privileges and immunities that attend upon statutory inquiries are available to witnesses.”
Some orders said it was “essential” that any future inquiry would have powers of compellability “in order to overcome GDPR concerns.”
The Presentation Brothers and the Hospitaller Order of St. John of Gods said they would consider participating in an inquiry once it had been ordered by government and the terms of reference were published.
One religious order, the Rosminians, criticised what it claimed was the “narrow focus” of a scoping inquiry that only focused on religious schools. “Such a narrow focus does not give confidence that these matters are being dealt with in an even-handed manner,” the order said in its response.
The Sisters of St Joseph of Cluny said “perhaps” when asked if it would participate and give evidence to such an inquiry, and claimed to have no documents to offer. The Sisters of St Louis said they would participate in an inquiry “provided the Inquiry would apply to all schools, not just those run by religious orders.”
The report said that a “number of orders did not respond” to questions sent to them. “Some orders did not respond on the apparent or explicit basis that they did not have any allegations of child sexual abuse in their records, and therefore did not deem the questions relevant to them,” it said.
Education Minister Norma Foley said the scale and horror of what people described in their interviews with the Scoping Inquiry is shocking, and the lasting impact on the lives of those survivors cannot be overstated.
“I have been deeply moved by the courage, fortitude and openness of all those who have shared their experiences,” the minister said.
She added: “I am announcing today that the Government has accepted the principal recommendation of the report of the scoping inquiry, which is for the establishment of a Commission of Investigation. Historical sexual abuse is a profoundly serious matter and needs to be examined in detail.”
Tánaiste Micheal Martin said a scoping report had revealed the impact of abuse on the lives of survivors.
He said: “The level and scale of the horrific abuse within schools revealed in the report’s pages is shocking, and there must be full accountability and justice for those abused.
“This report reveals the severe impact of sexual abuse on the lives of survivors.
“It is vital the needs of these survivors remain at the heart of our response.”
Last year, the Spiritan Congregation apologised to victims of abuse and said an independent group would engage with survivors at its schools and institutions, including Dublin's Blackrock College. The abuse allegations go back as far as the 1970s.
The Government set up a scoping inquiry to shape its response to allegations of historical sexual abuse in boarding and day schools run by religious orders.
Education Minister Norma Foley received the report, written by Mary O'Toole SC, in June this year.
“Multiple” schools are named in the scoping report, with ministers said to be shocked at the scale of the problem — although similar sexual abuse scandals across Catholic-run schools have been uncovered in other countries.
Some in Government believe this could be "just the beginning" of a much wider issue that might ultimately have to be investigated.
Taoiseach Simon Harris said today before Cabinet: “Survivors will be the first to know the next steps the Government takes in relation to any statutory inquiry.”
The investigation is expected to be headed up by a senior counsel or a retired judge. It is not yet known if any of the formal sessions will be held in public.
Many of the abusers are dead, however, given the lapse of time, including the sadist and paedophile Joseph Marmion SJ, who carried out serial crimes in at least three Jesuit-run schools.
Many other abusers are thought to have offended at more than one school, and the investigation is expected to look at whether they were shunted from one school to another once allegations came to light.
That was the process seen at diocesan level, and even with episcopal offenders like the late Bishop Eamon Casey of Galway, where the idea of removing him from the cathedral crypt is still under consideration.
Mr Harris said Minister for Education Norma Foley had reviewed the scoping report that had been carried out. It is understood she then brought her concerns to him — and Mr Harris discussed it in turn with his fellow Coalition party leaders, Micheál Martin and Roderic O’Gorman, on Monday night.
“She (Minister Foley) and I and everyone in Government have said that, in terms of the next steps, the people we want to know first are the survivors,” he said.
“The minister has been engaging with their representatives.”
Helplines: If you have been affected by the contents of this article, the organisation One in Four provides services to adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. One in Four can be contacted by calling 01 662 4070 or by completing the form at www.oneinfour.ie/contact.