A telephone counselling service for victims of sexual abuse recorded a 22% increase in calls last year, following the publication of reports of abuse in Catholic diocese.

The Connect service, which is funded by the Health Service Executive, said it received a total of 10,384 calls last year.

The service was established in 2006 following demands from groups representing survivors of institutional abuse for an independent and professional out-of-hours counselling and support service.

It said that the growth in demand continued the pattern from previous years when there was an average of 30% year-on-year growth during its first four full years of service.

There have been a total of 42,183 calls made to Connect since it began in 2006.