John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I understand the motion before us on the terms of reference of a commission of investigation cannot be amended. It needs to be amended and, following our discussion last night with the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, and the whistleblowers, it should be amended. It will not be acceptable if the House passes the motion when we know so much about this issue that is wrong. If we accept the terms of reference, we will heap further abuse on the families in question. We will become the abusers in this case. That is what will happen here and I will explain the reasons for that statement.

As the Minister of State is aware, the whistleblowers first exhausted every avenue available to them in the Health Service Executive. They tried everything to highlight this case but they were not listened to. They were forced to contact the Committee of Public Accounts to deal with a procurement issue relating to reports that cost the State almost €400,000. It was from this examination that the story emerged, not only of Grace - that is a neat way of packaging it - but of 46 others whose cases we also need to examine. We need to find out what happened in the HSE that led to this scandal being covered up since 1982.

We need to go back to the time before Grace and humanise this story. What about the 12 year old girl who was taken out of the foster home in question before Grace because her mother was told that she was attending school bruised, beaten and neglected? When she made complaints to the South Eastern Health Board in 1992, she was told to shut up and not to repeat the stories and she was threatened legally. When she removed her child from care, she had to seek care for her in Northern Ireland because the health board would not support her. How disgusting is that? This girl's case will not be included in the commission of inquiry's remit. Let us put real words on this case. The child was battered, bruised, financially abused and sexually abused anally so that today, as an adult, she leads a life of pain and suffering. Despite this, the Minister of State does not propose to have her case investigated. We should be ashamed of ourselves.

What about the young boy who was placed in the foster home in question and who stated, when he learned about Grace, that if only he had spoken up about what happened to him, the case of Grace may not have happened? He carries that burden with him.

Then we have the case of Grace. When she turned up at a day care centre measuring 5 ft and severely underweight, she was described in a doctor's report as slim and well. If that is not an attempt to cover up what was happening in the foster home, I do not know what is. She was battered, bruised, sexually abused anally, deprived of her money and neglected. Is neglect not abuse in itself?

The Minister of State has listened to some of the parents concerned. I listened to one of them this morning for one hour as she cried about the abuse her daughter suffered and the quality of life she now has. I spoke to the carer this morning who cried bitter tears again because she was not being listened to. This was a major cover-up by the HSE, an astonishing set of events that resulted in lives being destroyed. The House is now discussing terms of reference that are inadequate and that were not recommended by Conor Dignam, who said we should stop covering up. The Minister of State knows that.

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