Almost 1,500 children referred to Tusla each week

There were 20,109 referrals made by Gardaí, followed by almost 6,000 reports by social workers. File picture

Nearly 1,500 children are being referred to child protection services each week suspected of having been abused or neglected.

In the first nine months of last year, 53,489 children were referred to Tusla's child protection and welfare services.