Taoiseach says legal team's exclusion from Grace report is ‘serious’ and ‘worrying’

Marie-Claire Butler claims legal submissions on behalf of Grace were excluded from €13m Farrelly Commission's final report

Taoiseach Micheal Martin speaking to members of the media at Fianna Fail's annual 1916 Easter Rising commemoration at Arbour Hill cemetery. Picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Taoiseach has described an intervention from the legal team that represented 'Grace' in a commission of investigation as "very serious" and "worrying."

In an unprecedented move, the General Solicitor for Minors and Wards of Court, Marie-Claire Butler, has issued a statement claiming none of the "extensive" submissions made on behalf of Grace were included "in any way" in the final outcome of the €13m Farrelly investigation.

Grace is the pseudonym of a woman now in her 40s, who has been in the care of the State all her life. Grace has profound intellectual disabilities and is non-verbal. She resided with Family X between the ages of 10 and 30, a period spanning 1989 until her move to residential care in 2009.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Ms Butler stated that she "feels it is in the public interest and in the interest of Grace" to make it known that prior to the publication of the final report of the Farrelly Commission, the legal team appointed by the general solicitor made "considered and extensive submissions" to the commission on behalf of Grace.

"It appears that these submissions have not been included nor referred to in any way in the report," she said.

Asked about this Micheál Martin said: "I think the statement by the General Solicitor for Minors and Wards of Court is very serious.

"There are limitation around the Commission of Investigation Act, I've made the point generally that the Commissions of Investigations sometimes don't give the closure or don't give the outcome that people expect, and correctly expect. So this is worrying," Mr Martin said.

He told the Dáil Children’s Minister Norma Foley has agreed to meet Ms Butler following her statement.

Mr Martin added: "We are in very challenging territory because of the legal framework governing the establishment of the commission."

The commission was established in 2017 to investigate the care and protection of Grace and others in a former foster home in the south east, which had been the subject of abuse allegations.

The report found a "fundamental failure" by the South Eastern Health Board and the HSE in their duty of care to a severely intellectually disabled young woman.

However, it also concluded that it is "not satisfied" that the level of evidence was such to fully establish sexual, emotional, or physical abuse of Grace during her time in the foster home in the south east of the country.