TUSLA received over a thousand reports of child sexual abuse in the space of just three months in 2019.
Between April and June, 1,107 cases were reported to Tusla - Ireland's national Child and Family agency - which represents an 8% increase on the previous quarter.
For clarity, these are not instances of adults abusing children, but children sexually abusing other children.
The reports come from a variety of sources, such as the HSE, the gardaí and schools.
The highest number of referrals were in Cork, at 141, followed by 105 in the Mid-west, which is made up of Limerick, Clare and north Tipperary.
All areas of Dublin also have large numbers.
Eve Farrelly, from the Children at Risk in Ireland Foundation, things there may be two potential reasons for the rising number.
"One, there is awareness with people about what's not okay and what to do when they see something that's not okay," Ms Farrelly said.
"I think the second reason why there is an increase in referrals is because we are having an awful lot of children who are being subject to seeing content online that is not appropriate for them to see and could be impacting them in a developmental way and this could present in a sexually harmful way with other children."
Tusla said there is no clear reason for the increasing referral rates, but said it could be down to the introduction of mandated reporting.
