In a statement following the airing of an RTE documentary on corporal punishment in schools, the Taoiseach described the programme as "harrowing viewing".
The investigation revealed the use of corporal punishment in schools and the impact that the culture of violence continues to have on generations.
The Taoiseach commended all those who told their stories, adding that the Government will establish a Commission of Investigation into clerical sex abuse.
He
said: "The publication of the scoping report, and the painful stories
that have been told since, have exposed a culture of violence, of
calculated cruelty and the abuse of power that victimised and terrorised
generations of Irish children who still bear the wounds and have for
all of their lives.
"It is an unbearable burden which we must help lift.
"I have listened carefully to survivors tonight about expanding the inquiry and will now reflect on the request as their voices cannot, and must not, be ignored or unheard."
The Taoiseach added that the survivor's voices cannot be left "ignored or unheard".
However, he said that the process cannot be rushed due to the need to get it right and respect the wishes of the victims who came forward.
He added: "Their voices which were silenced as defenceless children, even those whose parents tried to stand up against the barrage of brutality, are being heard and their bravery in reliving such terrible memories is testament to a national trauma which must be acknowledged."
The documentary critically re-examines the extent and scale of physical abuse in thousands of religious and lay schools.
And a number of victims who came forward spoke about the lifelong consequences as a result of the treatment they received in Irish schools.
Survivor Peter Kane said: "Every day, there was an element of fear going in."
The Navan native continued: "He could kick off for the simplest of reasons…on this particular morning, the Brother called me up, 'get up here' he says, and the first thing I got was a couple of clatters around the head, my face, I think maybe six or 12 slaps I got off him with a leather strap."
New figures released show that between 1962 and 1982, 108 allegations involving physical abuse by teachers against pupils were recorded by the Department of Education.
More than three-quarters of these included allegations of other forms of abuse.
'IT NEVER WENT AWAY'
While 87 of the allegations were at the primary level, where children as young as four attended school, 21 were at the second level.
Poet and author Theo Dorgan told RTE of his schooldays in Cork, saying: "If you looked at a teacher the wrong way, you would get a slap."
And his lifelong friend and schoolmate, film festival co-director Mick Hannigan said: "It was not so much a daily occurrence, but an hourly occurrence, class after class."
He added: "If you got a sum wrong, if you got some difficult Irish poem wrong, then you were punished."
Eoin Costello told RTE of one day in his Kilkenny school when silence descended over his classroom.
He said: "I saw this shadow on the glass door at the entrance to the room. He marched literally with closed fists, punched and then punched…and then turned on his heel and walked out…
"It never went away. Forty years. It's never gone away the impact of that punch in the face."
1982 BAN
Corporal Punishment in schools was banned in 1982.
Up until then, under Department of Education rules, only certain nominated teachers were permitted to physically chastise their pupils at the primary and secondary levels.
But in practice, many other teachers regularly used violence to enforce discipline at school and often went far further than even the school rules allowed.
The Department has also revealed that it holds a further nine allegations for the five years after the introduction of the 1982 ban.
This brings to 117 the total number of allegations involving physical abuse received between 1962 and 1987 and suggests that allegations of physical violence in schools did not disappear after the 1982 ban.
Teachers in Irish schools remained immune from prosecution for "physical chastisement" until 1997.
Experts interviewed in the documentary say the small number of recorded allegations reflects the culture at the time, as well as poor record keeping by the State.
'IT HAD IMPACTED MY WHOLE LIFE'
Former Independent Senator Jillian Van Turnhout, who led the campaign to have corporal punishment banned in the home in 2015 said: "Maybe nobody saw it as important enough to take a record, to file a report when it was received by (the) Department of Education.
"We have seen, for example, in the 2009 Ryan Report, that clearly showed us there was twice the incidence of physical abuse versus sexual abuse when it came to industrial schools.
"So why don't we see similar levels when it comes to school reporting of physical punishment?"