The National Board for Safeguarding Children in Ireland (NBSCCCI or NBSCCC) established in 2006 in order to develop policies that would foster the prevention of

child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical, sexual, and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to a ...

in the Catholic Church in Ireland. Its main goals are to offer advice on safeguarding

best practice A best practice is a method or technique that has been generally accepted as superior to other known alternatives because it often produces results that are superior to those achieved by other means or because it has become a standard way of doing ...

, to assist in the development of procedures and to monitor practices. Its members have a good deal of experience in dealing with the problem of sexual abuse. The Board has been described as "the Catholic Church's abuse watchdog". On 30 November 2011 the board issued six reports into the dioceses of Tuam, Kilmore, Ardagh and Clonmacnoise, Dromore and

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

. The Board is funded through its sponsoring bodies: the Conference of Irish Bishops; the Conference of Religious of Ireland (CORI) and the Irish Missionary Union (IMU). The second tranche of reports on 5 September 2012 were published. They comprise four dioceses and three religious congregations. The dioceses included are Kildare and Leighlin,

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

, Cork and Ross, and Clonfert. The religious congregations are the

Congregation of the Holy Spirit , image = Holy Ghost Fathers seal.png , size = 175px , caption = The seal of the Congregation depicting the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Trinity. , abbreviation ...

(Spiritans), the

Missionaries of the Sacred Heart The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSC; la, Missionarii Sacratissimi Cordis; french: Missionnaires du Sacré-Coeur) are a missionary congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1854 by Servant of God Jules Chevalier (182 ...

(MSC), and the male Dominicans. Further reports were issued between 2011 and 2017, reporting the history and known extent of child abuse in every diocese on the island of Ireland, with separate reviews into religious orders that ran schools and residential institutions. In one order alone, the Christian Brothers, 870 allegations were made against 325 members, 12 of whom were convicted. In the report for 2016-2017 a "significant increase" was noted in the number of new claims, with 135 new allegations, most of them historical, compared with 86 for the previous year. The Board suggested that when a clerical abuse story is widely publicised, more victims often come forward.

References

{{Reflist Catholic Church sexual abuse scandals in Ireland Child abuse-related organizations