Leo Varadkar: ‘Grace’ allegations remain unproven

The health minister has warned that allegations about Grace’s abuse remain unproved.

Leo Varadkar, speaking in the Dáil during statements about the decision to hold a commission of investigation into abuse at the Waterford foster home, said that it is important to remember that no prosecutions have yet been brought.

“It is important to remember, no matter how horrific, these do remain allegations. There have been Garda investigations but yet no prosecutions and no convictions to date,” he said.

“An inquiry is certainly needed. But we cannot have the inquiry here on the floor of this house. That is not our role. We clearly don’t know all the facts at this stage.”

While it is clear that grave issues have been raised in relation to vulnerable children and young adults, it has been very difficult to establish the facts, he said.

He said two unpublished reports into allegations, the 2012 Conal Devine report and the 2015 Resilience Ireland report, may answer many of the questions now being asked.

The reports have not been published on foot of requests of the gardaí, who are still investigating the allegations.

Why was Grace left there for so many years after authorities determined it was unsafe to do so, he asked. He said there are conflicting accounts of what happened, he said the whistleblowers are not aligned in what they are saying, and there was misinformation from the HSE.

Junior health minister Kathleen Lynch said the allegations are harrowing and shocking and she accepted Grace was failed by the State.

She said it is in the public interest to establish exactly what happened and she said the Conor Duignam report will greatly determine the terms of reference into the commission’s report.

Waterford TD John Deasy said that revelations in this newspaper in recent weeks had led to the commission of investigation being called and he was deeply critical of the HSE’s “concocting” of the apology story to Grace.

“I refer to the issue of the apology where Mr O’Brien spoke of those who constructed the two-page rebuttal to the Irish Examiner.” he said.

“Frankly, if the Irish Examiner had not written that story, we would not be sitting here talking about this today.”

In the Seanad, Labour senator Máiría Cahill said: “I also want to deal with the wrong information given to the committee of public accounts in relation to an apology which has not been given to Grace. At best there was a misunderstanding and at worst it was willful misleading of this committee. It stinks to me of cover-up”.