Mother fights for Grace inquiry to extend to child

The mother of a second girl repeatedly raped in the foster home at the centre of the Grace case has said her daughter must be included in the Commission of Inquiry into the scandal announced yesterday.

The girl — removed from the home at the age of 12, and having suffered severe health problems as a result of her injuries — is to be excluded from the terms of reference announced by minister of state for disability Finian McGrath.

Opposition TDs hit out at Mr McGrath in the Dáil during the debate last night and described as a “betrayal” the fact the other 46 intellectually disabled people who went through the home are not included in the inquiry’s body of work, as approved by Cabinet yesterday.

Solicitors for the whistleblowers involved in Grace’s case wrote to Mr McGrath last night calling for all of the others in the home to be included, as well as the treatment of them and other whistleblowers by State officials.

The Irish Examiner understands the detailed 15-page letter was sent to Mr McGrath last night. In a statement to this newspaper, the solicitor Mark Walsh of Kenny, Stephenson and Chapman confirmed the letter has been sent and said his clients believe the Government terms fall far short of what is required.

The second girl, who was removed from the home at the age of 12, was raped with implements over a prolonged period of time at the home, according to Waterford TD John Deasy.

“Today, this young woman cannot be operated on because so much damage was done that to operate would threaten perforation of her bowel, which might kill her,” Mr Deasy told the Dáil.

Her mother told the Irish Examiner: “We have been fighting for years and we will keep fighting for our daughter.”

Her exclusion from the terms of reference means much of the cover-up of allegations by the health system will not be included in the commission’s work.

Labour leader Brendan Howlin in the Dáil severely criticised the failure of the Government to include the alleged abuse suffered by others in the foster home.

Mr Howlin accused Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Mr McGrath of misleading the Dáil over statements made about the terms of reference, which they said leaves room for the other cases to be investigated once the Grace module is concluded.

Mr Howlin, citing legal advice, said this is simply not the case: “Ministers have been misleading in their description of terms of reference.

“Despite what Mr McGrath said, the terms are not modular, they do not give the commission permission to look at other cases.

“I have taken legal advice. The only power we are giving is to scope out another inquiry, that is hugely different to what Conor Dignam [in an earlier scoping report] recommended.”

Independents4Change TD Clare Daly lambasted Mr McGrath for excluding the other families from the inquiry.

She said the terms of reference “are an absolute stitch up” and a case of the HSE protecting itself.

“I have read the terms of reference and they are a betrayal of the other families,” she said.

In his letter, the solicitor Mr Walsh said the experiences of 46 other people at the home; the need to fully investigate whether a “cover-up” occurred from as early as 1996; and the treatment of whistleblowers by the HSE, Department of Health and others must be included in any inquiry.

“For no obvious reason whatsoever and to the dismay of our clients a number of Mr Dignam’s recommendations have been omitted from the terms of reference,” the solicitor said. “Our clients can, however reluctantly, only conclude that the deliberate omission of the specific Dignam recommendations is a further attempt to belittle their involvement and to sweep under the carpet the matter complained of by them.”

After receiving the letter, Mr McGrath met with the whistleblower last night to hear their concerns.

However, despite hopes of including the proposed changes in the terms of reference before tomorrow’s vote, the minister last night confirmed the meeting was simply to hear the whistleblower’s views directly.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that at least one girl, known as ‘Ann’ who remained in the house as a resident until 2013, still had visits to the home until 2015, six full years after Grace was removed and 20 full years after the original decision to remove Grace was made.