The Department of Education has said child protection concerns relating to former schoolteacher Dómhnall Ó Lubhlaí were first raised with it in early 2012.

Ó Lubhlaí, who died in 2013 aged 84, is alleged to have abused dozens of young boys over three decades when he was an Irish teacher.

He was also the founder and principal of the Gaeltacht summer college, Coláiste na bhFiann.

A number of men who said they were abused by Ó Lubhlaí as teenagers disclosed details of the sexual assaults last year. While criminal complaints were made against the schoolteacher, who was a leading figure in the Irish-language movement, he was never convicted.

Disclosures

When the disclosures were made public last year, a number of inquiries were launched by An Garda, the Department of Justice and the Department of Education to review the handling of the matter over 30 years.

In a briefing note, the Department of Education said media reports indicated one of Ó Lubhlaí’s successors as head of Coláiste na bhFiann reported an allegation of sexual abuse to gardaí in 1997 as soon as she became aware of it.

Media reports

The note stated: “The media reports also indicated that she also informed the Department of Education at that time about the allegation.

“The department’s review of its records found no record of receiving this allegation of abuse at that time. The department therefore contacted the head of Coláiste na bhFiann in April 2013 and she informed the department that the media reports on this were inaccurate and that it was the Department of the Gaeltacht and not the Department of Education that she contacted at that time. The department notified the Department of the Gaeltacht of this information.”

In addition, the department said it reviewed its own records in 2013 to see if any child protection concerns had been raised concerning Ó Lubhlaí and to see what steps were taken on foot of the contact.