The chief executive of the HSE has acknowledged the organisation mishandled the issuing of an “important apology” to a woman known as “Grace” who is at the centre of an abuse controversy surrounding a foster home in the southeast region.

Tony O'Brien told the Public Accounts Committee a view was taken in the HSE that an apology should be given to Grace, who has severe intellectual disabilities and is non-verbal, in person rather than by letter.

“With this change in the mode of communication in the case of Grace it is now evident that the official HSE apology that was intended to be issued to Grace and to her mother was not made at that time,” he said.

“Unfortunately, the desire to offer a formal HSE apology was lost in the communication to the staff members who were to conduct the meeting in person with Grace.”

Accused of lying

Members of the committee last week accused the HSE of lying about providing an apology to Grace and Mr O’Brien has been brought before it to discuss the matter.

He said that having personally reviewed the situation with the staff involved, he was “satisfied that it was the intention to offer a full and frank apology to Grace”.

“I wish to confirm that the HSE has since apologised officially to Grace and her mother. This official apology has been made by the Chief Officer both in person and in writing, with the assistance of the professionals now caring for her,” he said.

Mr O’Brien said he had written to the 44 families who had relatives placed in the foster home between 1983 and 2013 to say he was unhappy with how the HSE mishandled the apology and also to say he was sorry for any distress the issues revealed in recent weeks has caused them.

Garda investigations

He said it was clear from two unpublished reports into matters surrounding the foster home - which cannot be made public due to ongoing Garda investigations - that “there were significant failings in the care provided by that foster family and significant failures by the former Health Board (and subsequently the HSE) to make the situation safe”.

“For this, I offered them and their family member a full, sincere and heartfelt apology,” he said.

Mr O’Brien said that following media reports on the case, the HSE sought reassurance at a local level that an apology had been offered and a report provided confirming one had been.

“However, it is the case that the assurance given to the chief officer, which she in turn passed upwards, referred to ‘an individual expression of regret’ of the senior staff members to Grace and her mother,” he said.

“This expression of regret was then mistakenly taken as confirmation of an official apology on behalf of the HSE.”

Mr O’Brien offered “an unreserved apology to the Public Accounts Committee and its members for submitting a document that contained erroneous information at that time”.

“I want to assure you that having met the principals involved I am satisfied that there was no intention to mislead the committee.”

Minister of State at the Department of Health Kathleen Lynch on Monday evening announced the formal establishment of a commission of investigation into allegations of abuse at the foster home.

Next government

With an election set to be called, she said, the inquiry would be a matter for the next government, once preparatory work by a senior counsel is complete.

Mr O’Brien said he welcomed such a commission “as it would provide a statutory mechanism in order to conclude this drawn-out process and allow the 47 service-users, their families and other interested parties to get answers to the questions that they have been asking for many years”.

“Before I address those issues, I wish to place on the record that I met both Ministers Varadkar and Lynch yesterday during which we discussed the recommendation to Government for the establishment of a commission of investigation into this matter,” he said.