A helpline for individuals concerned about child sex abuse received 1,145 calls last year. Some 58 per cent of these calls related to abuse within the family.
The annual report of Children at Risk in Ireland (Cari), which provides support to children, families and carers affected by sexual abuse, will be launched today by Minister for Children Brian Lenihan.
A total of 53 children and 106 parents or carers availed of Cari's services last year.
There were also waiting lists in some centres, the report says.
Cari says child sexual abuse remains a "clear and present danger" which requires a "continuing level of attention and vigilance".
It says there is a need for a greater focus on preventing abuse. It has called for the full resourcing and implementation throughout the country of the "Children's First" national guidelines on reporting abuse, and the provision of secure statutory funding for the organisation.
This would help to end the "ad-hoc crisis nature" of its funding over recent years, the report says.
The Cari helpline received calls about "excellent practice" by the Health Services Executive (HSE) in relation to child abuse concerns. But it also heard from parents who felt the system was letting them down at a crucial crisis point in their lives, the organisation says.
Calls are firstly categorised according to whether they relate to abuse within the family or outside the family. A secondary classification shows some 200 calls were seeking information and 99 calls related to questions about a child's behaviour.
Other main reasons for calling included concerns about sexualised behaviour by children and calls from adults who had experienced sex abuse as children.
The report says 68 calls related to mostly one-off rapes or sex assaults on children or teenagers aged under 18.
Some calls also related to instances where an individual under 18, who may have been the victim of sexual abuse, has gone on to abuse others.
The helpline reported a total of 34 calls about alleged offenders' access to children, with the same number of calls also relating to fears about the reporting of child abuse concerns
Alan Corbett, national clinical director of Cari, said current provision does not address child sexual abuse broadly enough.
"We need to focus more on preventing abuse in the first place," he said.
"While worries about problems in investigating complaints and difficulties in accessing services remain, our fear is that many parents will continue to fear making the all-important call to the HSE that their child may have been abused," Mr Corbett said.
The report will be launched in Dublin today.