The deadline for a scoping inquiry into historical sexual abuse in day and boarding schools run by religious orders has been extended by seven months.
The inquiry was due to be completed next month, however the deadline is now June next year.
In a statement, the Department of Education confirmed that the Lead of the scoping inquiry, Mary O'Toole SC, wrote to Minister for Education Norma Foley seeking additional time.
The Department has said that it was evident that time would be needed to fully meet the terms of reference set down for the report.
Its purpose is to set out a potential framework for a government response into historical sexual abuse in day and boarding schools run by religious orders that could also form a template for government responses elsewhere.
Central to the inquiry is a survivor engagement process.
The amount of information that survivors have given to the inquiry about their experiences of abuse, its impact on their lives and their views on what the Government should do next has been "significant", according to the Department.
Interviews are ongoing with survivors who registered their interest in the process.
"We are especially conscious that this is the first time for some survivors to have spoken of what happened to them," the Department said in a statement.
"It is important that people have enough time and space to say what they want the scoping inquiry to hear.
"This has meant that the process is taking longer than we had anticipated, and the amount of deeply personal stories and views that we have gathered is significant."
The scoping inquiry is also working to establish the likely scale of historical sexual abuse in day and boarding schools run by religious orders and has been identifying and engaging with orders who run schools or who did so in the past.
"There were a significant number of relevant orders to contact and this engagement is ongoing", according to the statement.
The inquiry has also been working with agencies such as An Garda Síochána and Tusla, and relevant government departments to try to establish the scale of historical sexual abuse reported to them in day and boarding schools run by religious orders.
Read more: Minister announces scoping inquiry into historical abuse in schools
Information is still being gathered from the religious orders, agencies and departments.
Ms O'Toole SC and her team is also tasked with engaging with the religious orders to establish the level and extent of co-operation any proposed inquiry and this process is also ongoing.
A number of expert reports have been commissioned by the inquiry, including an account of child protection systems and frameworks, and an analysis of restorative justice and other approaches to dealing with historical sexual abuse.
The team has also been examining the outcomes and methods of previous inquiries into historical sexual abuse, and the experiences of survivors who engaged in those processes.
All of this work according to the department's statement has taken longer than anticipated to establish and progress.
"It is of great importance to the scoping inquiry that there is sufficient time to properly complete, consider and analyse these aspects of its work," it said.
The scoping inquiry team is required to pay particular attention to the views of survivors and the Department of Education has said that it is vital that those participating in the survivor engagement process have adequate time and space to do so, and that they are heard in a respectful and sensitive manner.
"The scoping inquiry team feels very strongly that the deeply personal accounts and views shared with us must be given the fullest of time and attention for professional consideration and analysis," the department said.
The statement has acknowledged that the extension is likely to be "disappointing or frustrating for survivors", as many of the participants have already waited a long time to speak about what has happened to them.
"It is clear that the scoping inquiry cannot do justice to the information that has been gathered without this additional time to collect and analyse these accounts," it said.
