A report into the treatment of children in residential care in Ireland has listed a catalogue of “endemic” sexual and physical abuse by members of religious orders, carried out with the full knowledge of their congregations. The long-awaited Child Abuse Commission Report brought to an end a decade-long investigation into industrial schools, institutions for disabled children, day schools, orphanages and reformatories. The final report reveals a staggering scale of abuse suffered from 1936 to the present day, which was ignored by the authorities.

“The deferential and submissive attitude of the Department of Education towards the Congregations compromised its ability to carry out its statutory duty of inspection and monitoring of the schools,” said the report, following the inquiry led by Justice Sean Ryan. “The system of inspection by the Department of Education was fundamentally flawed and incapable of being effective.”

It also found that the system of funding through per capita grants led to demands for children to be committed to Industrial Schools so that they would remain open. The priority in managing cases of sexual abuse was to prevent public disclosure.

“Contrary to the Congregations’ claims that the recidivist nature of sexual offending was not understood, it is clear from the documented cases that they were aware of the propensity for abusers to re-abuse’ said the report. “The risk, however, was seen by the Congregations in terms of the potential for scandal and bad publicity should the abuse be disclosed. The danger to children was not taken into account”.

Numerous religious orders were investigated over the course of the commission’s work, but complaints were most frequently made against the Sisters of Mercy who supervised girls and the Christian Brothers, the major provider of schools for boys aged 10 to 16.

“Floggings, which were ritualised beatings, should not have been tolerated in any institution and they were inflicted even for minor transgressions” said the report.

A further report, into the handling of cases of abuse by the Dublin Archdiocese, is due to be published.