More than 200 people have been in touch with an organisation which works with adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse since the publication of the scoping report into abuse at religious-led schools.
Deirdre Kenny, CEO of One in Four, said that many people who have been in touch with the charity were coming forward for the first time.
Speaking on RTÉ's Six One News, Ms Kenny said: "Since Tuesday afternoon, we’ve had in excess of 200 people get in touch with us.
"Some in relation to their experience in school, predominantly people have come forward for the first time and are disclosing to our staff for the first time."
Ms Kenny added that they have also been contacted by people who had been through the criminal justice system and have disclosed before, but felt triggered by stories in the media.
Ms Kenny said that those reaching out "want to make a connection with someone who understands, as there's a sense of grief, loss and overwhelm".
She added that the scoping report would represent just a fraction of the real picture in terms of alleged victims.
Catholic education body will fully cooperate with commission of inquiry
The Government on Tuesday said it would adopt the report's recommendation of creating a commission of inquiry to examine the matter.
The body that represents the Catholic education community has committed to fully cooperating with this commission of inquiry when its terms of reference are published.
The Catholic Education Partnership acknowledged the significance of the report, the grave harm caused to survivors and families, and those who suffered but have died.
It said: "It is painfully clear that children and the trust of their families were betrayed in the most devastating of ways.
"The Catholic Education Partnership commits to working with our stakeholders and the State to ensure that we uphold out moral, civic, and statutory responsibilities."
A statement from the umbrella group which represents all Catholic education in Ireland said it was important to assure parents and students today that Catholic schools have robust child safeguarding procedures. The most recent review was in 2023.
It said the Catholic education sector is fully committed to maintaining effective child safeguarding and has always engaged positively with the Department of Education on the development, review and improvement of these standards and will continue to do so.
Gardaí probe if school abuse was organised, co-ordinated
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said earlier that gardaí are investigating if the abuse of children by religious orders detailed in the scoping inquiry report on Tuesday was organised and co-ordinated by so-called paedophile rings.
Commissioner Harris said the Garda National Protective Services Bureau was co-ordinating the garda investigations and that a number of known convicted sex offenders had been identified.
Some were still in prison, while others had passed away.
The Commissioner said the co-ordinated garda response enables the investigation team to follow these individuals and "identify if there has been an organisational element" to their criminal abuse of children.
He said gardaí are also aware of the number of victims involved and the time span that has passed since the crimes were committed.
He appealed to victims and witnesses to come forward to gardaí but said so far this week there have been no new contacts.
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee described the abuse as "barbaric" and said there was now a "moral obligation to ensure the truth is uncovered" and that there was justice for individuals.
Ms McEntee said there was also a moral obligation on the religious orders to "put their hands up", come forward and contribute "significantly" to a redress scheme.
Level of historical school abuse 'frightening' - Martin
Retired Catholic Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin said that he was "extraordinarily struck" by the number of children who were abused in special schools, as outlined in the scoping inquiry report earlier this week.
"Sexual abuse of children is a vile thing, but sexual abuse of particularly vulnerable children is very shocking," Dr Martin said.
"The number and the incidences are frightening, but the reality is much greater and that's the sad thing."
Dr Martin told RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne that criminal prosecutions must continue and victims should be compensated.
However, he expressed concern that it could take a long time for survivors to see justice.
He called for a "public figure in Government" to take the lead on the issue and demand that the individuals and groupings involved face responsibility.
He welcomed fresh calls from gardaí for abuse survivors to contact them.
"I think if people realise they will have a safe and friendly reception, they will come forward," Dr Martin added.
Read more:
Survivors say scoping report on sexual abuse gives 'credibility'
Six challenges facing commission into abuse in schools
Dr Martin described how, when he became archbishop and needed to address the issue of abuse, he decided to set aside a Saturday to read files.
"By Saturday afternoon, I simply had to throw the files on the ground. It was so upsetting. And this is worse," he said.
He said the majority of the abuse occurred from the 1970s to the 1990s and people began coming forward in the latter period "when the church had norms in place".
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Dr Martin said the files he dealt with mainly related to diocesan priests.
He said if an allegation was made against a priest in his diocese, he immediately had to take measures.
"I can't say abuse is no longer happening," Dr Martin added, "but I hope that it is not".
He said that safeguarding measures in the church and society are the things that will keep protecting children.
"Paedophiles will be attracted to any place where they have privileged access to children - that can be in a whole range of areas, sporting schools and so on."
The Association of Management of Catholic Secondary Schools (AMCSS) expressed deep sadness over "the scale and nature" of the abuse disclosed in the scoping inquiry report.
In a statement it said it was profoundly grateful to the survivors who participated in the inquiry and acknowledged that this was done "at huge pain" to them.
The scoping inquiry which was published on Tuesday stated that the formal structures of child protection now in place in schools are robust, but that the operationalisation of safeguarding is subject to many variables.
Additional reporting Paul Reynolds, Ailbhe Conneely
