Dublin, Ireland - Nearly 150 Roman Catholic priests and members of religious orders in Ireland's biggest archdiocese are in the spotlight for committing child sex abuse in the last 67 years, new figures showed Tuesday.
The statistics from the Dublin archdiocese come days ahead of closed, official hearings into how the church managed the abuse. It will also hear from abuse survivors.
Church officials said specific allegations have been made against 74 priests from the Dublin diocese and suspicions raised about 10 more.
Further abuse allegations have been made against 61 others who worked there in the past.
Eight priests have so far been convicted and three priests accused of abuse are currently before the courts.
There have been 112 civil court actions brought against 32 Dublin priests or priests who held appointments in the archdiocese - 72 have been concluded and 40 are ongoing.
The archdiocese said the total cost of legal settlements with victims so far is 7.8 million euros ($10.6 million).
In 2005, a watershed judicial inquiry into another Irish diocese - Ferns in the southeast of the country - reported on about 100 complaints of child sex against at least 21 priests there.
It was the first time the Irish state had ever investigated any aspect of how the once powerful church is run.
There has been widespread shock in the predominantly Catholic country about the scale of the problem.
An Irish government body paying out compensation to people who suffered abuse in mainly religious-run, child-care institutions said it had received 14,768 requests before it closed for application in December 2005.
The final cost to the Irish taxpayer is expected to exceed a billion euros.