John McGuinness: Farrelly Commission report provides no vindication for Grace

Fianna Fáil TD John McGuinness said: 'Let no one convince you otherwise, Grace was violently sexually abused on numerous occasions, to the extent that to this day she carries the scars'. Picture: Oireachtas TV

The long awaited Farrelly Commission report has been published, made up of 2,000 pages in six volumes.

I expected that this final report would set out in plain language the background to the care of Grace, where it failed and why, who was responsible for what happened to Grace, and the names of those who clearly failed to protect Grace while she was in the care of the State.

I expected the basic rights of Grace to be vindicated. It is a huge disappointment.

For a reader that has little knowledge of the complex issues involved it is impossible to follow, and there is no executive summary to assist the reader.

The cost to date is approximately €37m. The combined cost of other reports into the care of Grace come to approximately €750,000.

The court awarded Grace around €6.3m and instructed the HSE to pay the agency that had a role in caring for Grace in her later years of care the sum of €600,000 in respect of grants that had been withheld or reduced allegedly as a sanction for staff speaking out on the case.

Further court awards were made to settle a case brought by a whistleblower. The full cost to the State for this case is not known as all concerned signed a confidentiality agreement. The legal costs incurred by the HSE have not been published in full.

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For those that followed the case of Grace and 46 others from the time it was unearthed through a Public Accounts Committee hearing dealing with the costs of consultants reports generally, it must be deeply disturbing that the State seems prepared to use the report to bury what really happened and walk away from its responsibilities.

I chaired the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) when this was first discussed. I watched as former TD John Deasy tried in vain to get to the truth and establish the facts.

He was stonewalled by HSE officials whose only intent it seemed to me was to prevent the truth from emerging.

The whistleblower went to court to be appointed “committee of the person” and this was resisted by the HSE. I listened carefully to the whistleblowers that gave evidence in private session to the PAC. I read every line of the reports I was given.

I read other reports conducted by the HSE. I was horrified and sickened by what I learned happened to Grace and others.

That a young non-verbal intellectually disabled woman could be treated like this while in the care of the State is truly shocking.

In October 1995, a large bruise was noticed on Grace’s hip. Ten days later, an incident report stated that for the first time in daycare, Grace completely stripped herself for no apparent reason. Other documents also referred to bruising on Grace’s body, bad behaviour, poor hygiene, and the stripping off of her clothes.

Minister for children Norma Foley speaking to the media after publication of the final report of the Farrelly Commission's investigation on Tuesday. Picture: Niall Carson/PA

In 1996, the mother of a different girl said that her daughter had been sexually molested while being fostered by the same foster family. That allegation was never properly investigated by gardaí because a formal complaint was not made.

In 2000 a burn mark on Grace’s inner thigh was found by a nurse but was not reported to management. The matter was not followed up.

Concerns were then raised after Grace turned up for a day service appointment in August 2008 with a black eye. The following March, she was found to have bruising on her breast and thigh.

Finally, in July 2009, Grace was removed from the home after her mother was informed of the bruising and demanded action be taken.

Let no one convince you otherwise, Grace was violently sexually abused on numerous occasions, to the extent that to this day she carries the scars.

When is inserting implements into a woman’s anus without consent not anal rape? When is withholding social welfare payments meant for the betterment of the recipient not financial abuse?

Would black eyes, bruised thighs, bruised breasts not suggest at even a casual glance that something untoward had happened? She was unwashed, poorly dressed, obviously not getting basic care and no one noticed?

The report provides some shocking insights and very little remedy.

The Dáil debate promised might help the Government to face the facts and do the right thing.