Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As Deputy Clare Daly indicated, we have engaged on this matter since 2014. We gave State bodies and the Government the benefit of the doubt but, sadly, they have proved unworthy of that. Last week, a former specialist lecturer in child protection of disabled children, Dr. Margaret Kennedy, stated that the report into the abuse of Grace had been published, with heads of State, disability advocates, HSE and Tusla managers - virtually everyone - expressing sorrow, apologies, shock and horror. There was a firm promise to sharpen procedures, policies, guidelines and practices. These responses are disingenuous.

Grace was deliberately abandoned in a foster home where there was a very strong suspicion of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse because she had an intellectual impairment. Her foster family saw Grace not as human but as a cash cow. Services did nothing and overlooked what they saw because they also saw Grace as inhuman and probably regarded her as difficult to place.

The original whistleblower's story has yet to be told. The Devine report claims that the lack of decisive intervention cannot reasonably be attributed to a lack of resources. This is not true. When the whistleblower became the social work team leader for vulnerable adults in the south east, the body had more than ten times the average UK caseload for adult services social workers. It was impossible for the team to become aware of the neglect and abuse of vulnerable adults unless it was directly contacted by a concerned person. It was only when the mother telephoned it in 2007 that Grace's file was discovered. Had she not done so, the team might never have known anything about Grace and the foster placement.

The whistleblower raised the resource issue with the Devine inquiry team when he met them in 2010. Afterwards, he was provided with a written account of his evidence, which did not match what he had said and which did not include the context he had given of systemic HSE neglect of children and adult services in the south-east region. He offered to meet the inquiry team again with a tape recorder. This was refused. Although Conal Devine was well aware of the resources issue, in order to protect his paymasters in HSE management, he refused to acknowledge it in the report. These services had suffered years of managerial neglect at the hands of the very people who were running the inquiry.

The years of chronic mismanagement due to a lack of resources applied not just to disability services but also to child care services, including child protection and children in care. In 2007, a child died in Waterford partly as a result of the lack of social work resources. This led to the Ferguson report, which was unpublished and swept under the carpet. In 2009, the HSE commissioned a firm called PAE Consulting to review waiting lists for child protection cases. There is no jurisdiction for any delay in protecting children and many counties had no waiting lists. However, Waterford came out worst in the country, with more than 750 cases pending. Wexford was third worst.

For children in care, the situation was no better. In 2006, the whistleblower was given responsibility for most of the children in care - more than 100. The whistleblower discovered that in the majority of cases the HSE was in breach of the foster care regulations which require children to be visited and reviewed every few months. At least ten children had not been seen by a social worker for several years. At least half the children had had no statutory review in over two years. Again, this was due to a chronic lack of resources. Although most children were very well cared for by their foster parents, there were serious exceptions.

One child, aged ten, had been repeatedly raped in her foster placement by an older boy living in the same placement. The boy, then aged 16, had been visited by a social worker for over two years. In February 2007, the whistleblower demanded that the HSE review what had occurred to allow this little girl to be sexually abused for so long. He demanded a review from the service point of view and also into the fact that there had been no Garda investigation. His request was declined. In 2015, the social work team leader in charge of the foster placement at the time of the rapes was promoted to principal social worker in Waterford disability services. She now has overall social work responsibility for Grace. This is not to say the person is in any way individually culpable. However, it suggests that if one can be relied upon to keep silent about cases in which the HSE is exposed to legal claims, the sinister and behind-closed-doors management of the HSE will be there to reward one. It is a travesty that senior HSE managers are subjecting social workers to human resources procedures after leaving them working for years in impossible conditions of chronic managerial neglect, ignoring and even undermining their professional recommendations and then paying Conal Devine to scapegoat them in his report.

I do not know how much the Minister of State knows about what is going on. A tsunami is coming down the tracks if the Government does not deal with this properly. It is horrific. It is not just about Grace. In this particular region it is systemic and has gone on for years. It starts at the top, not at the bottom. The system is rotten to the core. Has the Government any interest in doing anything about it? When will heads roll? Will people be held accountable for what has gone on in the region for several years? It has been one cover-up after another. The whistleblower gave a protected disclosure to the Department in September 2014. What he had to say was horrific. What is being done about it? Where are we going with it? I am not saying it is all the Minister of State's fault. However, it is much worse than he thinks.

In Ireland, we have a lack of ability to hold people accountable for wrongdoing and it seems to be getting worse, not better. The HSE said there is nobody in the home now. A girl was there in 2015. Although the HSE told the family it did not recommend putting the girl there, it would not say why. It did not want to lift the lid. What role have any politicians played in all of this over the years? What role has Arthur Cox played? It was allowed to set the terms of reference for one of the reports. Did it have a vested interest in the terms of reference?

Unless the Government deals with this matter properly, it will haunt it. This is not just about Grace. Hers is the story that has come to light. There are many other horrific stories and they are not going to stay in the dark. The Government is not going to keep the lid on it. The Minister of State can bin the terms of reference and start again. Let us do it right. If not, the Government will regret it and will let down many people.

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