There have been 164 new allegations of abuse made against the Catholic church in the past year, according to the National Board for the Safeguarding of Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland (NBSCCCI).
In the annual report, the board says there were 164 new reports from April 2013 to March this year - which is lower than the previous year when 242 reports were made.
The largest number of allegations relate to the period between the 1960s and 1980s. Over the past five years, the board has received 1,042 allegations of mistreatment and abuse.
The board says they are "satisfied that all of these have also been passed to the Gardaí/PSNI and where appropriate to the HSCT/HSE".
Chief Executive of the NBSCCCI, Teresa Devlin, says "Over the last year we have undertaken 18 reviews of safeguarding practice, initiated a busy three year training programme and on a day to day basis, offered advice and support across the various church bodies".
In addition to the work under the training strategy, a major task that the report indicates will be undertaken is a review of the Safeguarding Guidance that the board originally produced in 2008.
It says that while the Guidance has been updated over the intervening period, the board believes now is the appropriate time to undertake a fundamental and comprehensive review.
