The Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has promised the Government will take immediate action to implement the recommendations of the Ferns report.
Speaking in the Dáil today as the report was published, Mr Ahern said: "It is a catalogue of serial abuse and gross dereliction of duty in the diocese of Ferns."
In reponse to questions from TDs, Mr Ahern said the report was shocking to everybody's sense of how children should be protected.
"Our thoughts go out to the victims and their families. The report brings out the full horror of their situation . . . and catalogues the continuing failure to respond adequately in Ferns until recent years," he said.
Mr Ahern also said that the government accepted the Report's recommendations in principle and would work towards implementing them immediately.
The government will be writing to the Church authorities on the issue, he added.
Mr Ahern said that current Bishop of Ferns, Dr Eamon Walsh's response to framework guidelines adopted by the bishops in 1996 "emerges as the only positive aspect to this sorry story".
Mr Ahern said that the Sex Offenders Act, Garda Central Vetting Unit and Child Pornography Act had all been established in the last five years to provide stricter controls in the area of child protection.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said: "The detail is scandalous and brings shame on a civilised society. It is a shocking wake-up call to the Church and the state. This is a horrific account of appalling abuse, systemic negligence and specific failures on the part of state agencies.
Labour leader Pat Rabbitte praised Judge Frank Murphy and his colleagues for compiling the report and the courageous work of victims like Four In One founder, Colm O'Gorman.
"Most Irish people will be shocked that the institutional Church was used in this fashion as a cover for child abuse.
"This House itself should hang its head in shame that it turned a blind eye to this appalling period in our history." Mr Rabbitte said the Report revealed the shortcomings of the state's child protection systems and called for the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children to discuss it further.