Allegations of physical and psychological abuse towards the elderly have increased by more than 40% over the past two years.

There were also nearly 100 cases of alleged sexual abuse towards pensioners last year.

Under the Freedom of Information Act, the Health Service Executive (HSE) has released statistics relating to the number of allegations of abuse the National Safeguarding Office has received over the past three years.

They relate to incidents against people over-65, both in community and service settings.

Source: National Safeguarding Office

In 2016, there were 711 complaints of physical abuse, but this rose to 1,010 last year - more than half of which had 'reasonable grounds', according to the HSE.

Allegations of psychological abuse rose by 41% in this timeframe - with 1,261 last year, 536 of which had 'reasonable grounds'.

Complaints of sexual abuse towards pensioners dropped in the two-year period - but there were still 98 last year, with nearly half having 'reasonable grounds'.

The HSE says it has a no-tolerance approach towards abuse of any form and has a team of safeguarding social workers across the country that addresses concerns raised.

Reporting by Eoghan Murphy