Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Can I also say how sorry I was to hear of the passing of our former colleague, Peter Mathews? Peter was a gentleman to his fingertips. We extend our condolences to his wife, Susan, and to his family. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

Earlier this morning the HSE published two reports into failures at a foster home in Waterford over the course of almost three decades. During that time the foster home in question housed 47 children, one of whom we know as Grace, a young woman with profound intellectual disabilities. She was left in that home for nearly 20 years despite a litany of sexual abuse allegations and neglect. Grace was forgotten, abandoned by those in the health service charged with ensuring her care.

The findings of the reports published today are shocking. For long periods of time, there was no intervention or interactions with Grace and the various persons who were directly involved in her case failed to discharge their duty of care to her. Both reports published today stress the cases of four other service users relating to allegations of sexual molestation and physical abuse and an allegation from one man that he was locked in a cupboard. All the while, serious breaches of all reasonable practices took place and nothing was done.

These details were brought to the Taoiseach's attention at Cabinet this morning and he will be well aware of them. No doubt he, like everybody else, is deeply shocked by the contents of the two reports.

A commission of investigation has been long promised by Government and I welcome that it is to be set up in the coming weeks. However, what we need here is accountability. Reports and commissions are necessary and fine, but there are clear-cut instances of abuse of the gravest kind here, both in the treatment of Grace and others in foster care and of the failure of health officials to ensure her care and safety. Who is responsible?

We also have what is alleged to have been a cover-up. Last year's Dignam report stated of the two reports published this morning that there were shortcomings in them and that there was an allegation that crucial files may have been deliberately destroyed by persons unknown. That is a disturbing and damning allegation.

The five-year delay in the publication of these reports is, we are advised, as a result of Garda concerns that they may impact on criminal investigations. Can the Taoiseach tell us today where are those criminal investigations at? Have arrests been made? Do they concern the abuse, the cover-up or both? Who in either the HSE or any other State agency has been held responsible? It is not enough for us to produce shocking reports. God knows, we have had enough of them. We need to know who is accountable and that he or she is, in fact, held accountable.

See this speech in context