The Commission who investigated the case of ‘Grace’, the vulnerable young woman at the centre of the major foster home abuse case should be ‘hauled’ before the Oireachtas to answer questions on what’s being described as their deeply flawed report”.
Aontú Senator Sarah O’Reilly says
“I am absolutely staggered and angry about this. This woman deserves nothing less than a full and thorough investigation into her treatment. She is a human being, and she has rights”.
“A woman who needed care was treated despicably; the taxpayer has shelled out €13 Million on a report and still there is no justice and no answers to many questions
The commission was given a budget of over €13 Million and has taken nearly a decade to report. The final report was launched in the middle of the Dáil holidays. It is my belief that this was done deliberately to avoid scrutiny.
When we delve into this murky, horrible scandal we know that there were 47 other children fostered by the same family as Grace. We have absolutely no idea of their experiences and what possible abuse was visited on them. Did the commission even interview them? If not, it is guilty of a dereliction of duty and a gross disservice”.
The fact that the testimony submitted by Grace’s lawyers to the commission was not referenced in the report is a scandal.
Grace is non-verbal, she couldn’t speak up for herself, and then testimony given by her legal representatives was disregarded by the commission. This is unconscionable and should NOT have been allowed happen.
I also want to take issue with the way in which the commission treated whistleblowers in this case. It was shocking. I wish to commend these people who could not stay silent in the face of such abuse. I am adding Deputy John McGuinness to this also as he did brilliant detective work over the years on this issue and his determination to seek justice for Grace is really heartening. I am gutted that in this instance Justice has not been served.
In this country we are very good at looking back at historic abuse in the past but fail miserably to examine state care abuse that has and is taking place more recently.
There is far more of an onus on people today to investigate abuse as people have knowledge, they’re educated, articulate and have all the information at their fingertips if only they have the thirst for real justice, dignity for people, accountability and truth.
Last week I raised the issue of the death rate among children in State care. Over the past ten years 235 children either in or known to state care have died. They died under the watch and eye of Tusla.
Ten of them were murdered. 51 of then died either by suicide or drug overdoses.
Why is Aontú the only political party consistently and vocally raising this issue?
We will debate the Mother and Baby Homes and survivors of institutional abuse issues today.
The Mother and Baby Homes Redress scheme has abandoned anyone who spent less than six months in a Mother and Baby Home, they won’t get any redress.
This is relevant to this debate, because Grace was born in a Mother and Baby Home, she is one such person.
