The story of ‘Grace’, an intellectually disabled and non-verbal woman who was placed in unsafe foster care by the South-Eastern Health Board and exposed to sexual and physical abuse over many years, must be fully explored. A sworn inquiry is needed to examine all aspects of this serious failure by State agencies.
It should include the negative treatment of those whistleblowers who raised the alarm; the decision-making processes that led to Grace being placed in foster care and kept there after concerns were raised; the unwillingness of the Health Service Executive to accept administrative blame and exceptional delays by the Garda and the Director of Public Prosecutions in dealing with the case.
The time for talking about protecting vulnerable children is over. Voluntary agencies and the health watchdog Hiqa complain about the physical abuse of disabled people within institutional settings and believe sexual abuse is under reported. Resolving those concerns will involve establishing the facts; apportioning blame and the introduction of reforming legislation.
Minister of State for Disability Issues Finian McGrath has promised to bring proposals to Cabinet within weeks to establish a sworn inquiry in the case of Grace and others placed in the same foster home.
His initiative will be based on the Dignam report that, in turn, considered the circumstances in which two earlier reports commissioned by the HSE were not published. This kind of glacial movement towards acceptable and responsible behaviour in public bodies cannot be tolerated. For authority to function effectively, there must be consequences.
Parallels exist within the HSE and the Garda Síochána in official attitudes towards whistleblowers. On the one hand, those in charge appeal for openness and promise to support concerned, outspoken members. But when incidents of mistakes, misconduct or abuse are made public, elements within both organisations engage in prevarication, obfuscation and denial in order to avoid accountability. It is a culture that cannot be allowed to prevail.