Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald has expressed her profound shock following the publication of the final report into the ‘Grace’ case inquiry which established no findings of physical, emotional or sexual abuse.
The Farrelly Commission was set up in 2017 to examine the case of a woman, given the pseudonym Grace, who was in the care of the State for all her life.
Grace, who has profound intellectual disabilities and is non-verbal, was left in a foster home in the Co Waterford area for almost 20 years despite a succession of sexual and physical abuse allegations.
She resided with 'Family X' between the ages of 10 and 30, a period spanning 1989 until her move to residential care in 2009.
The report of the Farrelly Commission, tasked with investigating disability services in the South East and the care of Grace, was published by Minister for Disability Norma Foley on Tuesday.
The Commission, led by Marjorie Farrelly, gathered 312,000 pages of documentation and its final report runs to more than 2,000 pages in six volumes.
The case has been the subject of significant attention and many questions have been raised about Grace's care, including why she was not removed from the foster home after the allegation of sexual abuse and why her living situation was not regularly reviewed.
The allegations relate to Grace's time in the care of a foster couple known as Mr and Mrs X, with whom she came to live in 1989.
In 1995, on the back of claims that Grace suffered abuse in her foster home, the South Eastern Health Board decided not to place any further people in the home. However, a decision to remove Grace was overturned in 1996.
In 2007, a social worker who became aware of the previous allegation warned that Grace was vulnerable to exploitation, sexual abuse, financial abuse, physical abuse and neglect. Grace was removed from Family X in 2009 and moved to a residential family home.
A series of probes have been initiated since, including the investigation of the Farrelly Commission.
Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley, said the final report, which took eight years and has so far cost €13.6 million, made no finding of "any evidence of physical abuse, emotional abuse or sexual abuse".
The report adds that it is not satisfied that the evidence establishes that marks or bruises sustained by Grace were as a result of physical abuse
However, the Commission’s report found that there was a general absence of oversight and monitoring of Grace in her placement by the South Eastern Health Board and the HSE during her placement in Family X.
The Commission found that this was a fundamental failure by the South Eastern Health Board and the HSE in their duty of care to Grace in the circumstances.
Asked to explain how Grace, who is 40 now and lives in a residential care facility, had suffered injuries while in the foster home, Ms Foley said the Commission had examined incidents where she had bruising near her eye and around her body.
She said: "That was an an initial cause for extreme concern in relation to issues of abuse.
"Subsequently it was pointed out that when Grace moved to a residential facility, she continued to manifest at times bruising on different parts of her body.
"Indicating that she was a very active young person and she seemed to be susceptible to that. That is how the Commission addresses that."
During a press conference in Dublin, Ms Foley was asked several times if she supported the findings of the report. She said: "I can't second-guess the Commissioner, all the evidence was available to the Commissioner."
Ms Foley added: "Ms Farrelly was in possession of all of the facts, all of the information. This is what she is presenting. This is her report, these are her findings."
Asked if she was satisfied that Grace was not a victim of sexual abuse, the minister said: "I can only go on the evidence that is provided by the Commissioner."
Meanwhile, Ms Foley said she had asked for the report to have an executive summary that was accessible for members of the public, but this request was not met. She also said the length of time it took to complete the report was "frustrating".
Asked if she had expressed those reservations to Ms Farrelly, the minister said: "Yes, I have."
Sinn Féin Leader Mary Lou McDonald said "it beggars belief" that the report finds the commission is not satisfied that there is evidence of physical, emotional or sexual abuse.
Ms McDonald said: "Eight years after this investigation began, we still have no answers and nobody is held to account for a child, later a young woman, being left in danger despite people coming forward to voice serious concerns.
"After eight years of investigation, and six years after this report was supposed to be published, it beggars belief that the Commission states that there is insufficient evidence that Grace was subjected to sexual, physical or emotional abuse while at the foster home.
"This finding only serves to compound the abysmal failures and further undermines public confidence in how people with disabilities in care of the state are protected, especially children."
Ms McDonald continued: "The report does find evidence of neglect of 'Grace' regarding her healthcare, particularly regarding her dental care which led to gum disease and the extraction of seven teeth. The scale of the neglect is frightening and it is damning that it was allowed to go on.
"Grace, as a child and as a young woman, was failed in the most profound and horrific way. Failed by the health authorities, by successive governments, by the state - by everyone who was supposed to protect her. Yet, a near decade long investigation into her shocking treatment is far from convincing in uncovering the truth and full extent of what happened to her.
"It is also appalling that the government chose to publish this report a few days after the Dáil went into recess. It has been sitting on the government's desk since last year. The Government's handling of this scandal should be scrutinised in the Dáil. The report should be the subject of Leaders' Questions today but again the government has endeavoured to side-step accountability on yet another matter of serious importance."
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