Welcome
A Commission of Investigation is an independent body established by the Irish Government to examine issues of serious public concern.
The Commission of Investigation into the Handling of Historical Child Sexual Abuse in Schools has been set up to examine how concerns of child sexual abuse were handled by schools and those responsible for schools.
The Commission’s work has three main parts:
The Commission will conduct a survey in Autumn 2026 inviting survivors and others with relevant information to answer some initial questions. The responses will help to determine the focus of the next stages of the Commission’s work.
The Commission will carry out an investigation to identify where there were failures to protect children. Its purpose is to examine in detail how concerns or allegations of sexual abuse were handled by schools and statutory bodies using a sampling approach.
The Commission will conduct a Survivor Engagement Programme to hear directly from survivors. The process will be informal and is designed to protect each person’s privacy.
