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AUTHORITIES HAD AT least four opportunities over 13 years to make the girl at the centre of an abuse scandal safe.
Two reports released to the public today show details of the potential abuse the intellectually disabled girl known as ‘Grace’ suffered during the 20 years at the foster home.
The 2015 Conal Devine report also identified at least four opportunities where action could have been taken and Grace could have been removed from the home. However, an absence of supervision and adherence of protocols meant that Grace was allowed to remain there.
The report found that Grace moved in with the foster family in 1989 – a time when foster carers were paid by the health services.
It outlines concerns raised by staff regarding bruises and disturbing behaviour by Grace. In one case, it is reported that she stripped her clothes off for no reason. Other concerns related to bruising, poor hygiene and bad behaviour.
It says that the authors of the report “think that she (Grace) suffered abuse while living with this family”.
1996: case conference
In 1995, she began attending a day service, where staff noticed she was distressed and had bruises on her body. The following year the mother of a different service user said that her daughter had been abused while living with the same foster family as Grace.
Staff from the health services in the area met in April to discuss the situation. They said that Grace should move to a new home.
The foster family told the health services they would appeal the decision, but lost that appeal. They wrote to Health Minister at the time, Michael Noonan. The Department of Health asked for more information and was told the case was under review.
In October 1996 there was a case conference which noted that:
This conference ended with a decision that Grace would stay with the family. However, there is no record of many of the agreed actions being followed up on.
2004: Potential move to residential care
In 2004, authorities asked the foster family whether or not they should keep Grace on a waiting list for a permanent placement in a residential unit.
They were told ‘no’ by the foster mother. The report could not determine if health service staff looked at Grace’s file or was aware of concerns about her care. The report says that staff did not carry out agreed actions and Grace was left with the family.
2008: Consent from birth mother for move to residential care
In 2008, Grace’s birth mother consented to her being placed in a residential unit.
However, staff disagreed on what action to take. Some staff said she should be made a ward of court before she could move, others said that wasn’t necessary. A lack of agreement meant that Grace stayed where she was until July 2009. The report says this should and could have been done earlier.
March 2009: Review at sexual assault treatment unit
On 27 March 2009, staff at Grace’s day centre noticed bruises on her thighs and breasts. She was sent to hospital, where the bruising was reported to gardaí and the sexual assault treatment unit. Hospital staff didn’t think it was suitable for her to spend the night but when care staff tried to find alternative accommodation, there was “confusion” around what was available.
She returned to her family.
Eventually, Grace was moved to a residential facility, but even this was poorly handled, says the report.
It says she thought she was going to her day service and was never told she would not be returning to her foster family. She was not ready mentally or logistically for the move, the report says.
“It appears that the health services had not tried to tell her about the move beforehand.”
Finances
The report also outlines allegations that Grace’s foster mother mishandled her finances during her time with the family.
Commission
Taoiseach Enda Kenny today announced that Minister of State for Disabilities Finian McGrath will bring the terms of reference for a commission of investigation to Cabinet next week.
“These two reports speak for themselves and they are shocking,” said the Taoiseach.
Speaking outside the Dáil today, McGrath said the role of Michael Noonan, who allegedly made a representation which led to the appeal being overturned, will be included in the terms of reference.
“I don’t think there’s any concerns there, but that is going to be included in the terms of reference,” he said.
The Dublin TD told reporters that he met with Noonan last week and is “satisfied” that the Minister’s alleged involvement will be dealt with.
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Surely to god there is a solicitor in this country who will sue the state on behalf of this unfortunate lady.
Sadly I’m beginning to believe that Solicitors don’t like going up against the establishment; they fear the Morris McCabe whispering campaign which may affect their ability to grow their practice, or else are so deep into protecting the institutions as their mates are all senior management. Tough one..
Biggest problem… social workers
@Rosie Murphy: Totally agree…they have one job and consistently fail to do it….
All this leads back to Michael Noonan. Why is he not being mentioned in the media today?
Think Noonan needs to speak, loudly and clearly. The cynic in me believes the inquiry is designed to protect Noonan until after an election.
Worth reading:
Ireland, a place where Accountability strictly refers to the numerical talents of a Transylvanian character from Sesame Street!
How many of these 4 events was Noonan involved with and which did his interference over turn?
@M Bowe: Does it matter? Whatever he’s responsible for, and he is responsible for a lot of what went on in the SE health board area, because he was protecting the pedoes, he will never be held accountable.
Now you realise why Noireen and her cohorts are still in control of the Gardai. An independent police force, actually doing the job of a police force, would see, Ministers, politicians, heads of quangoes, bankers, judges, solicitors, many of the well connected behind bars for corruption among other things.
And that isn’t what government isn’t about in this cesspool.
Yes Dave it does matter, while I agree with what you say about the cesspit of establishment politics and public appointments. It has to matter and be highlighted at every possible turn, this takes it back to the people and away from establishment control and corruption. Be that in policing media justice health education and social services. They all have dirt on each other and use it for personal gains and positions rather than public good!
Has micheal noonan resigned yet? If not why not.
It’s Ireland.
This government should be thoroughly ashamed…. In the last 2 weeks we have the shameful disgraceful allegations that MC cabe suffered …. Who remains in the job? The Garda commissioner.
Now we have another shameful disgraceful episode … Who remains in the job? Noonan.
Who is investigating his role since last year? That’s right the commissioner and gardai. You couldn’t make it up.
Gardaí investigating Michael Noonan’s handling of Grace abuse case..
Barrister Garry O’Halloran made the complaint to gardaí as far back as February and received confirmation in recent weeks that a “comprehensive investigation” is now under way.
Mr O’Halloran, who is a former Fine Gael councillor and also a former chairman of the South Eastern Health Board, had claimed Mr Noonan did not take adequate action after being made aware of sex abuse allegations involving a child while he was health minister in the 1990s. Mr O’Halloran claimed he resigned from the party after Mr Noonan had “done a runner” in 1997 from a meeting to discuss his concerns around the allegations of abuse.
A series of reports in the Irish Examiner earlier this year have led to the establishment of a Commission of Investigation into the foster home at which a young intellectually disabled woman, referred to as Grace, was allegedly sexually abused.
https://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/gardai-investigating-michael-noonans-handling-of-grace-abuse-case-413409.html&ved=0ahUKEwicg9bJrbPSAhVKGsAKHVR0ABcQFggqMAU&usg=AFQjCNHrZtL74YpLkMNboYQe6Sh3pn0lrw&sig2=fGSYXc2DE5rvMXeH5cRfdw
LITTLE ONE .. this is Ireland . Nobody resigns .. that’s how brazen they are .. they’ve no shame .
@LITTLEONE: Exactly little One….he must have at least 3 MAJOR scandals linked to him at this stage and yet no accountability whatsoever…Time he was gone.
Another inquiry..another report another ‘we will learn from this and make changes ‘ ..up on shelf it’ll go and Noonan won’t come within a country mile of any type of consequence….politics Irish style
The foster family wrote to Mr Noonan and afterwards they were let keep grace.enough said.
Heard mcgrath dismissing Noonan’s role. Disgraceful. He’s all ready been exonerated. I reckon he’ll leave with Kenny and will never have to answer for anything. He walked away unscathed from the hep c scandal. No reason to think it’ll be any different this time around.
Was anyone ever charged / convicted
with the alleged abuse?
The husband died, but not sure what happened to the wife. Hard to convict probably, but it’s a question I was asking myself earlier.
Noonan was Minister for Health when questions were being asked about child sexual abuse in the SE Health board area. People went to meet him to ask about setting up an inquiry, and Noonan dodged them, until they caught up with him in a car park, where Noonan ran to his car and left Austin Currie to take the flak. To put people off, Currie stated that Noonan was agreeable to an inquiry and to contact his office. When Noonan’s office was contacted, they denied any knowledge of any agreement to an inquiry
We know Noonan also lobbied to keep this “foster home” as the “home” for Grace, even though there were huge suspicions about what was going on there re child abuse.
Just like the Mary Boyle case politicians cover for their friends, rape, murder, and sexual abuse of children don’t even take second place in this cesspool of corruption.
While all this is historical, the Dept of Education is hounding the victims of sexual abuse while at school. Threatening them with the full cost of any High Court action in an attempt to bully them to silence.
Governments and politicians in this cesspool have no problem covering for the well connected, or setting the agencies of the state to lay false charges of child sexual abuse to bully whistleblowers into silence.
Inquiries are cover ups, where no one is accountable.
And people wonder why the Gardai management are allowed get away with wholesale corruption.
The corrupt need each other to Keep the Corruption going.
Report on Drivetime by Phillip Boucher Hayes this evening was shocking. The girl stopped attending school, there wasn’t any effort made to do anything about this. The foster parents also objected to her attending rehab. The foster mother strongly objected to the girl being removed from their care. Her reason were that they needed the carers allowance, telephone allowance, electricity allowance etc. Frightening how much influence the foster parents had despite the evidence that there was something seriously wrong. The whole system was skewed toward the foster parents and what they wanted. It’s disturbing that the girl’s care seemed to be secondary in this whole debacle.
What I take exception to is the calm unemotional nature of the interviewers on all radio and TV today no indignation no incredulity no hard questions.
The well trained media reps from HSE whose training was paid for by this state answer no questions but deflect to processes in place.
No question of resignation or accountability by senior HSE management. Yeah they will pull in a few low ranking employees and their union will look after them. Any other organisation would have been excoriated by the media but because these are state employees they look after each other.
Enda The gormless again expresses regret no rollicking for the HSE like he rightfully gave the church off course theses are well heeled members of the political classes and so protected.
FG the party of law and order for everyone except state employees do you wish see McCabe treatment!!!
Complete disgrace
It’s the interference from the school principal that stinks to high heaven.
If no one is held accountable for this it is a sad sad time for ireland.
By accountable I mean a named person whose fault this botch is. So it is either someone in the health bord not doing their job or the minister who was responsible for ensuring the staff are doing their jobs.
This is how it works in civilised countries… either the responsible minister f@*ed up or they pin it on an official but someone needs to get the blame here.
Lack of accountability is responsible for a hell of a lot in this country and the people are getting sick of it.
@john read my comment above
How could the foster mother be able to say ‘no’ to the move? The abuse happend on her watch…
@EvieXVI:The authorities allowed themselves to be manipulated simple as that
This is desperately sad to read … this poor child was placed in the “care” of the state in to a foster family where she was absolutely not cared for. Hopefully she is now with people who love and care for her.
Have we no detectives in this country to investigate so that whoever is left from this scandal can be prosecuted? I am sick to my back teeth with Edna and his bloody inquires. This case was mentioned in the Dail by him yonks ago and yet he’s back spinning plates in the air again. Michael Noonan will forever be tainted by Mrs Cole and his treatment of her and now this is added to his legacy. How many more scandals is he unaware of whilst at the helm??. Edna has Grace Maurice McCabe and now poor Grace again, wtf does it take to shame these boyos?
HIQA Issuing reports to Services within the Disability sector and many major non compliance . That’s now in 2017 can it happen again ? Yes many reports being issued for three years now and still significant issues as recently hi-lighted please action let’s not have an Aras A or Grace situation .
@PVD:It mostly likely is as Tulsa says they don’t have resources to cope with the children from Calais & yet no one is calling a halt. There was a report also not so long ago in which Tusla also said they don’t have resources to oversee foster homes . It’s unreal.
Ffs another enquiry? That poor woman was abandoned by people not doing what any person with one brain cell would know what was the correct procedure, remove her and put her in a place of safety. Lost for words.
Will there at least be’four people sacked?’Don’t hold. Your breath.
I wonder do the decision makers know how this girl suffered.
It is Always the same, staff flagging at front line but no decision makers behind them they expect front line to make these decisions and management hide. Staff at front line see the person , the management see a document or file and higher ranks don’t make any clear decision for fear of getting dirtied on their voyage higher and higher,then POOF, their gone , jump up a service grade and change Dept.
Rem the 5 D’s of state management
1) Dodge
2) Duck
3) Dip
4) Dive
5) Dodge
Michael Noonan had that opertunity.
KARMA is catching up with this corrupted Fine Gael party.
@Tony Hartigan: Karma will never catch up with them Tony. Not in a million years. And they know it.
House of Cards wouldn’t have a look in with this cesspool of shiate.
Will karma catch up with people who dont seem to have a conscience?
Trying to make out who the biggest culprit is the monster family or the useless government
@Steve McMahon:The state is ultimately responsible for chidren or vulnerable adults in care.
@eileen boles: The state appointed the HSE and now Tusla, in either case, social workers- who failed badly
When these files are published for the public, how do you go about reading them? Are they on a website somewhere or do you pay to get a copy? How does it work
Quote from a solicitor when I tried to take on a h.s.e case. WE DONT TAKE H.S.E CASES ON WE NEVER WIN. This is only the tip of the iceberg. Unfortunately alot of secrecy with this institution calling themselves the h.s.e. Appauling heart breaking stuff.
How dare the hse issue an apology !! What a farce !! An apology after all she has been through …multiple failures after failures …disgusting.
My God, no one asked Grace how she felt or what was happening. Poor girl. My guess is that her intellectual disability was mild if put into foster care. This opens up cans of worms regarding fostering evaluation, political intervention in the case and hse ineptitude at Management level as it seems to me staff flagged their fears on a number of occasions. Looks like another tribunal is on the cards.
Another scandal where is all this going to stop
Im beginning to think Kenny is his own worst enemy or is this anor tribunal .. like MccCabe none of this shld be a nation issue being used by parties for political gain and a special dail committee is called for acting for us the employer to hand all these whistle blowing case with legislation frame and the right to dismiss without pension and bring criminal proceedings against perpetrators .. not an issue for elections
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