The terms of reference for the recently established Irish Commission of Investigations into the handling of CSA in schools in the Republic of Ireland between 1927 and 2013 provide as follows:-

• Child Sexual Abuse means interaction with a child for sexual gratification.
• Handling in the context of reasonable concerns of child sexual abuse, means actions taken or not taken in response to those allegations or reasonable concerns.
• School means a school as defined at Section 2(1) of the Education Act 1998.

• Concerns of child sexual abuse means concerns which arose where a person witnessed actions or behaviours that were inappropriate and gave rise or should have given rise to a reasonable suspicion or belief that child sexual abuse had occurred;

  or

  became aware of any allegation or information that gave rise or should have given rise to a reasonable suspicion or belief that child sexual abuse had occurred.

• The Commission will investigate and report to the Minister for Education and Youth on the handling by Schools and persons and entities responsible for and associated with Schools, of concerns of child sexual abuse and also the handling by An Garda Síochána (the Irish Police Force), the Health Service Executive (or its relevant successor and predecessor organisations) and the Department of Education of concerns of child sexual abuse reported to them.
• The Commission are also asked to report to the Minister for Education and Youth on the impact of CSA on survivors and on any learnings in relation to future child protection.

• The Commission, in examining whether handling was adequate, shall have regard to:

  (a)        whether applicable laws and guidelines were followed;

  (b)        the use of disciplinary procedures;

  (c)        changes of duties or responsibilities, or additional supervision of persons suspected of child sexual abuse;

  (d)        the references provided to subsequent employers of persons suspected of child sexual abuse;

  (e)        subsequent employment, or movement of persons suspected of child sexual abuse to other Schools or institutions, in Ireland or elsewhere;

  (f)         whether the parents or guardians of a child concerned were informed;

  (g)        the approach taken towards any criminal prosecutions, civil litigation or threatened litigation, including the commissioning of any reports or investigations into such matters;

  (h)        whether there were any co-ordinated actions with regard to child sexual abuse in Schools by any perpetrators.

• The Commission is directed to submit its final report not later than 5 years after its establishment.
• It is noted that it would be impossible to investigate the handling of every allegation of CSA reported to the Commission and in order to balance this with the 5 year time period, the Commission is going to adopt a  purposive sampling approach (Purposive sampling, also known as judgmental or selective sampling, is a non-probability sampling technique in which researchers deliberately select participants based on their knowledge, relevance, or expertise concerning the research topic).
• The terms of reference note that while the Commission may investigate and report on CSA that occurred between 1927 and 2013, it shall recognise that the more remote in time it is since the CSA occurred, the more difficult it will be for the Commission to conduct a meaningful investigation into matters.
• The Commission shall strive to be as survivor-centred as possible, consistent with fair procedures, and shall promote a trauma-informed approach to working with those who have experienced child sexual abuse.
• The Commission shall also establish a Survivor Engagement Programme to operate under the auspices of the Commission, which will hear accounts from survivors as to the impact on them of being sexually abused in Schools, and where these accounts are documented, they will be anonymised.