Minister for Education Helen McEntee has said the religious groups involved in historical sexual abuse "will be held accountable".
The minister's comments follow the Government's commitment to establish a Commission of Investigation into allegations of historical sexual abuse in schools across the country.
Further work will be carried out to examine the matter of financial redress and how any future scheme could be funded.
Details of the Commission of Investigation were outlined by Minister for Education Helen McEntee after Cabinet.
The commitment to establish a commission is contained in the Programme for Government.
A scoping inquiry found more than 2,000 allegations of abuse at over 300 schools.
Minister McEntee said the Terms of Reference were set out very clearly to ensure the commission does not go over time and closely reflect the recommendations of the scoping inquiry.
Further recommendations of the scoping inquiry have also been accepted by Government.
"There is a very clear pause within the first two years to make sure that the Commission can highlight any problems that arise," she said.
"But also it works both ways, that the minister can then identify if issues are emerging, how the work is being done, and whether or not that will result in an outcome that is appropriate."
"We need to shine a light on what is a very dark part of our past."
Minister McEntee said a further body of work was needed in relation to establishing a redress scheme for survivors, but in the event of it being established, it would be funded by religious orders and those who "are accountable for the awful abuses which happened in our schools".
She said: "The work that is happening in parallel is further examination of the religious orders, what funds they have, what assets they have, what levers may be used by governments to ensure that funding is provided by those religious groups and orders."
"And it's only after that that obviously a decision would have to be taken on a redress scheme," Minister McEntee added.
Minister McEntee said she hoped the most important outcome of the commission was to answer the question of how historical sexual abuse was allowed to happen in schools over a long period of time.
She said: "I believe, as a State, we need to shine a light on what is a very dark part of our past, but we need to do so in support of survivors and what they went through."
Minister McEntee said the chair of the commission will be supported by a team of commissioners, one which will look at the investigation into the handling of sexual abuse claims in religious schools, continuing the work of the scope of inquiry.
She said the second commissioner will begin work on the investigation into sexual abuse at non-religious-run schools.
A third commissioner will focus solely on a non-adversarial survivor engagement forum.
She said: "There will be no cross examination. It will be anonymised, and it will mean that every single person who wishes to come forward, to tell their story, to tell what happened to them, in that non-adversarial way, that they would be able to do so, and it will allow all survivors to do this.
"The investigation piece itself, then, obviously, would allow for different witnesses for cross examination.
"But any survivor who came forward in that sense would be and has to be supported through every step of the process."
Commission to examine allegations of historic sexual abuse
The scoping inquiry recommended that the Commission examine the handling of allegations, suspicions and concerns of historical sexual abuse in schools, and that it consider all primary and post-primary schools, have been accepted by Government.
The Commission of Investigation will undertake "preliminary work" over the coming months, and will seek initial expressions of interest from people who may wish to provide information to it in due course.
An Inter-Departmental Group (IDG) was established to examine the recommendations of the scoping inquiry and it has advised that further recommendations relating to child protection, survivors' experiences of the justice and legal system, support for survivors and commemoration and memorialisation be accepted.
The scoping inquiry report recommended that consideration be given by government to establishing a redress scheme for survivors of historical sexual abuse in day and boarding schools run by religious orders.
The Government considered that a further phase of detailed investigation and data analysis on this issue will be essential, particularly given the expressed wish of many survivors that those running schools where sexual abuse occurred should be held accountable financially.
Mr Justice Michael MacGrath has been appointed as the chair of the commission by Minister McEntee.
Mr Justice MacGrath was appointed to the High Court in 2018 and has been a judge on the Court of Appeal since 2024.
He attended University College Dublin, where he later lectured in law.
As a judge, he has presided over civil cases, including commercial law, regulatory law, judicial review, family law, Hague Convention matters, employment law, and medical negligence.
On the criminal side, he has presided over trials in the Special Criminal Court and jury trials in the Central Criminal Court between 2020 and 2024.
The letter states that the Commission of Investigation will be independent in its operation and will have its own working methods and procedures and that when the commission begins its work formally in the coming months, it will be widely advertised.
