Average of thirty three child protection concerns raised about teachers each year

More than 130 allegations of physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, and neglect were made against teachers in Irish schools over a four-year period.

Figures from the Department of Education detail an average of around 33 child protection concerns that had to be investigated each year between 2019 and 2022.

There were 42 allegations of emotional abuse and 31 allegations of sexual abuse, which made up more than half of the total complaints.

The department said there had also been 18 child protection reports of physical abuse and a single case of neglect.

In some cases, there was more than one allegation made, according to the data, which was released under FOI.

Eleven child protection concerns involving both emotional and physical abuse were reported as were fourteen cases involving both physical and sexual abuse.

There were also a small number of allegations in the categories of ‘neglect and physical abuse’ (1), ‘neglect and sexual abuse’ (3), and twelve cases that were listed as ‘unknown’.

The Department of Education said data for last year was not yet available as it had not been verified yet.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.