'Grace' solicitor comments on report are an 'alarm call'
Comments made by the General Solicitor for Minors and Wards of Court about the case of 'Grace' have been described as remarkable and an alarm call about this "appalling process" by the Special Rapporteur on Child Protection.
Grace is the pseudonym of a woman, now in her 40s, who has been in the care of the State all her life.
She has profound intellectual disabilities and is non-verbal.
The findings of the near decade-long Farrelly Commission investigation into the Grace foster home abuse case, is still raising questions two weeks on from its publication.
Caoilfhionn Gallagher said Marie Claire Butler is obviously limited in what she can say for legal reasons, but these "serious and extensive concerns" by Grace's legal team must now be added to the grave concerns raised by survivors, families, whistleblowers and others involved in the inquiry process.
Minister for Children Equality and Disability Norma Foley is to meet with Ms Butler, the solicitor who represents the interests of Grace after she issued a statement claiming that extensive submissions made to the commission by lawyers representing the woman were not included or referred to in any way in the its final report.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Ms Gallagher said there needed to be an inquiry into the inquiry and a quick-fire review of what went wrong procedurally to ensure it can never happen again.
"She was let down over a very long period of time, from 1989 to 2009, for 20 years," said Ms Gallagher.
"When she was in an environment that she should not have been in and 16 years later, she continues to be failed.
"So, for me, I think we've got to look at, first of all, what is going to be done in relation to accountability for Grace and for Grace's family. Second, what is going to be done about accountability and the investigation which never happened in phase two for the other families and survivors."
There has been significant criticism of the €13 million investigation into allegations that Grace was seriously abused while in foster care.
The commission, chaired by Senior Counsel Marjorie Farrelly, found there was a fundamental failure on the part of the South Eastern Health Board and HSE in their duty of care to Grace. It found evidence of serious neglect and financial mismanagement but did not find any evidence of sexual or emotional abuse.
Ms Gallagher added that whatever happened next must involve listening to Grace and her advocates.
The last process was re-traumatising, she said, and did not deliver answers and accountability despite costing millions of euro and taking a long time.
She said all eyes were on the Government to see what it could do about the vacuum in accountability and the disgraceful failures of the process.
"It wasn't the Government's own process, but now the ball is in the Government's court to do what it needs to do, to put matters right for Grace and for the other survivors."
'Silenced her again'
The Chief Executive of Inclusion Ireland said that the intervention by the General Solicitor into the Grace case "tells us a story" and we should listen to that.
Also, speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Derval McDonagh said it is a myth that people who are non-verbal do not communicate because they do have ways of communicating and Grace has been silenced again by not including her evidence.
"It's a myth to say that people with intellectual disabilities who are non-speaking don't communicate."
She said that "Grace communicates in different ways. And that is just as valuable as any verbal communication.
"And unfortunately in this instance it seems to be that her testimony, gathered carefully by her team over many years, was ignored or set aside. And it's simply not good enough. That has silenced her again. It has retraumatised her", Ms McDonagh said.
She added that the Commission report has "left families utterly broken".
"We have to listen to that. We can never do this again".
Ms McDonagh said that the next steps have got to be co-designed and led by survivors and their families, and any investigation into the inquiry has to be speedy.
She welcomed the meeting between the Solicitor General and Minister for Children Norma Foley.
"We look forward to hearing the outcome of that meeting. And the next steps, they need to be swift, and they need to be just for Grace and other survivors".
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