The government has approved the establishment of a scoping inquiry to inform the government response to revelations of historical sexual abuse in schools run by religious orders.

The Minister for Education Norma Foley has appointed a Senior Counsel, Mary O’Toole SC, to lead the scoping inquiry. Access the Terms of Reference.

The purpose of the scoping inquiry is to shape the government’s response to revelations of historical sexual abuse in schools run by religious orders. Ms O’Toole, as Lead, will oversee the scoping inquiry and, at the end of the process, will submit a report to the Minister for Education, including recommendations on next steps.

The work of the Lead will be informed by reports and inputs from experts across a range of areas including child protection, restorative justice and, most importantly, survivor engagement.

Engagement with survivors will be central to the work of the scoping inquiry. The survivor engagement process will provide an opportunity for the views of those who are most directly affected to be heard clearly, and ensure that the recommendations set out in the Lead’s final report to the Minister are informed by the outcomes sought by survivors.

The survivor engagement process will be led by child protection expert Kieran McGrath and conducted by facilitators trained in trauma-informed practice. This engagement will take many forms including, in the initial stages, a questionnaire, as well as facilitated workshops and individual engagement.

Further information on this process will be published on this website as the scoping inquiry progresses.

If you would like to register your interest in this process please email survivorengagement@esi.gov.ie by 17 April 2023.

At this stage, we are not seeking any specific details of what happened to you as a child.

Access further information on our child protection procedures, which also apply to details of abuse suffered as a child.

To continue to register your interest in this survivor engagement process please provide:

If you prefer, you can call 090-6483610 between 9.15am and 5pm (Monday to Friday) to register your interest or, outside those hours, you can leave a voicemail.

The main purpose of the process is to identify what survivors would like to see happen next. You will not be required to provide an account of your experiences at this time.

All child protection concerns received by staff of the Department of Education must be dealt with in accordance with the department’s procedures for responding to child protection concerns which come to the attention of staff of the Department of Education. These procedures set out what is required of all staff of the Department of Education when they receive or become aware of information which contains a possible child protection or welfare concern.