A report into allegations of historical sexual abuse at some schools run by religious orders has been described as “horrifying” by the Education Minister.

Almost 2,400 allegations involving 884 alleged abusers were made to a scoping inquiry.

These allegations covered over 300 schools across the country, and the final report runs to more than 700 pages.

The Government has now accepted a recommendation to set up a Commission of Inquiry.

However, it has not yet decided on a redress scheme, one of the other main recommendations of the report.

'Startling'

Education Minister Norma Foley said the details are startling.

“One instance of it was one too many, but equally so when we see the magnitude of it,” she said.

“It is quite startling, it is horrifying, it is distressing, and that's for somebody who's reading it.

“I can only imagine the trauma and the difficulty for the survivors themselves who are living with this every single day.”

Action

Minister Foley said action will be taken based on the findings.

“There are many steps that we need to take here,” she said.

“There are a number of recommendations.

“The principal one was the first one and probably the most important step—the setting up of the commission of investigation—we took that without delay today.”

The report was commissioned after an RTÉ radio documentary called Blackrock Boys brought some of the allegations to light two years ago.

Reporting by Bella Finn. 

Main image: Minister for Education Norma Foley speaking to reporters outside the Department of Education in August 2021. Picture by: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie