Tusla received more than 1,100 referrals of child sexual abuse in the space of three months last year.
It's an increase of nearly 8 per cent on the previous quarter.
In the first three months of 2019, the Child and Family Agency received 1,029 referrals - and 1,107 in the next quarter.
Eve Farrelly, from the Children at Risk in Ireland Foundation, believes there may be two reasons for the rising number.
