Some concern in Cabinet over 'Grace' report

The Minister for Public Expenditure has acknowledged there had been some concern in the Cabinet over the nature of the Farrelly Commission's report examining the 'Grace' foster abuse case.

Jack Chambers said it was "surprising to see no executive summary and the report presented in a different way to other commissions of investigation".

The minister said there are "clear learnings around the failings" outlined in the report.

However, he added that despite criticism from some politicians and health groups, the report's findings still reveal issues that need to be addressed.

"The systematic failures of huge areas of the State are clear in the report," Mr Chambers said.

"Obviously it's been independently advanced over the last number of years, but the findings are still shocking and the care of Grace was completely unacceptable.

"There are clear learnings around the failings outlined in the report that the Government must respond back to.

"That's why the work of Minister [for Children, Disability and Equality] Norma Foley now, particularly around adult safeguarding and compiling the variety of recommendations that exist and accelerating that as a focus, will be important for the future."

The almost decade-long State investigation into the 'Grace' foster home abuse case concluded yesterday.

The Farrelly Commission was established in March 2017 and began its work in May of that year, chaired by Senior Counsel Marjorie Farrelly.

It was set up to examine two specific issues - the 'Grace' case and separate allegations surrounding 47 other foster placements at the same home over the same period.

It focused on concerns over how a non-verbal woman with severe intellectual and physical disabilities - given the pseudonym Grace - was placed in a home between 1989 and 2009.

In 1995, on the back of claims Grace suffered abuse in her foster home, the South Eastern Health Board decided not to place any more people in the home.

However, a decision to remove Grace was overturned in 1996, for still unknown reasons.

As a result, Grace stayed in the home until a whistleblower's complaint in 2009, relating to allegations Grace had been physically and sexually abused.

The commission said it cannot establish that marks and bruises on her body were the result of serious physical or sexual abuse.

However, the near-2,000 page €13m investigation made findings of neglect in her care, dental neglect, financial "mismanagement or abuse", and an absence of oversight and monitoring from officials meant to ensure her safety.

Report came with findings that were not anticipated

Minister Foley said she "can't second-guess the [Farrelly] Commission in so far as the Commission was entirely independent."

Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, the minister said this is what people had wanted - no outside interference - and the Commission under its "sole commissioner... gathered material and gathered evidence over eight years and has produced its report".

She said her role as minister was to ensure the report was published and was "brought into the public domain, and I have done that".

Asked if she was happy that the report explained issues that needed to be explained, Ms Foley said it "came with findings, I suppose, that were not anticipated".

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She said if the report had contained an Executive Summary among its more than 2,000 pages and six volumes, that would have made it "more accessible", but the independence of the commissioner is "important" she added.

The minister said it is "appropriate" that she does know the identities of "any of the people involved" and that their names "should not be in the public domain".

"I did ask the Commissioner in good faith that I felt it would be helpful to everyone that she had engaged with through the process that they would be given advance notice of my intention to publish [the report]," she said.

"But the commissioner did not accede to my request, and again she is independent and entirely free to make her own judgement."

Labour call for Dáil debate following report's publication

Meanwhile Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik has called for a "full and urgent" Dáil debate on the report, as she said it has raised "more questions than answers".

"While the report does make significant findings as to the serious neglect and financial mismanagement to which Grace was subjected, it is disappointing to see the lack of findings in respect of the serious allegations of physical and sexual abuse," she said.

Ms Bacik added that she was also calling on Ms Foley to provide "urgent reassurance" to other vulnerable adults who were placed in the same care setting as Grace who were "seeking answers" over the "extent of State failings in their cases".

'Treated atrociously'

Minister for Transport Darragh O'Brien said Grace was "treated atrociously" by the State and questioned whether the model of inquiries, such as the Farrelly Commission, were of any benefit to victims and their families.

Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, the minister said it was not acceptable that people who are victims "have to wait this length of time for any type of recommendation, determination or vindication".

"That's not a criticism of the work of the commission. It's the model and I think the model really, really does need to be looked at," he added.

Mr O'Brien said that Grace was "treated atrociously" by the State and described the cost of the report as "outrageous".

He said: "To wait this length of time, eight or nine years, the financial cost is outrageous as well in many respects ... But for the families themselves, for Grace herself, for the other families that are there, for it to take this length of time to get to this stage without real recommendations that I can see, is something that we need to really look at in detail."

'Real opportunities' to take the matter seriously

Further safeguarding legislation is needed in Ireland in order to ensure that a repeat of the 'Grace' case can never happen again, Inclusion Ireland has said.

Chief Executive Derval McDonagh said there are "real opportunities" for the State to take the matter seriously.

"We're always calling for that independent advocacy piece to be available for anybody who's in a situation where they find themselves in danger are at risk of abuse," she said.

"We have a national advocacy service, for example, for adults with disabilities, but it's chronically underfunded, and they're a long waiting list to access the server. That's simply unacceptable in 2025," she added.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Ms McDonagh said a change in culture was also needed.

"We need to strengthen our legislation. There's no safeguarding legislation for adults in Ireland today.

"That needs to be changed, but also a real culture shift. We've a long history, as I said of institutionalisation, and we're recycling those patterns time and time again," she said.

"Unless we move forward with the human rights lens and treat people with the dignity and respect through that human rights lens that they each deserve, we are at risk of having more stories like Grace," she added.

No efforts to conceal abuse - HSE chief

Health Service Executive CEO Bernard Gloster has denied that there were efforts to conceal reports of abuse within the HSE following the publication of the 'Grace' report.

He acknowledged concerns about what is perceived as the "absence of findings" in the Farrelly report, adding that "there are still findings here that are absolutely truly shocking even by the standards of the 1990s".

He said it was his understanding that all the files that were available were given to the Commission.

Speaking on the same programme, Mr Gloster said his purpose now is to take the report and check what are the questions the HSE can still answer internally ,if there are any, and where do those questions lead.

He said Grace was "wronged" and "harmed" and that "what happened her was an abject failure", and the decision to keep her in the home was "a very, very bad decision".

Mr Gloster said that he could only account for his stewardship of the HSE to ensure that families of people with disabilities had trust in the service.

"There are a body of people who would say that that culture has fundamentally shifted, that the disposition of the HSE is fundamentally different.

"I think people have seen that in the different matters I've dealt with . . . there is an absolute openness to looking outwards as an organisation to giving confidence to the public.

"In the context of abuse of constructs and abusive behaviour, even in the best systems in the world, those can still arise. The issue is not about accepting that they arise or not. The issue is about what do we do to prevent them and what do we do to deal with them," he said.

Additional reporting by Fiachra Ó Cionnaith

Some concern in Cabinet over nature of 'Grace' report, says Chambers

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