Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I doubt that any house in Dublin ended up like the one in the photograph. That is what people in counties Mayo and Donegal must contend with. Their houses are falling down around them because proper standards were not put in place and there were appalling building regulations and regulations for quarries. This matter must be brought to a conclusion and a redress scheme put in place immediately for the people affected. I, therefore, ask the Leader to invite the Minister responsible to come to the House as a matter of urgency.

I refer to the two reports published today on the foster home where the woman known as Grace was left for years. Even though allegations of rape and the abuse of Grace and 47 intellectually disabled children were widely known, she was left there for nearly 20 years. I have three questions for the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Katherine Zappone, to answer on behalf of the Government she represents. Why was Grace abandoned by those who had a duty to ensure she received the care she desperately needed as a vulnerable human being and citizen of the State? Who stopped the 2012 report by Conal Devine from being published until now? Who stopped the 2015 report from being published? We are told it was because criminal proceedings might take place, but who has been arrested? How many files have been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions?

It is welcome that a commission of investigation will be set up in the coming weeks, but where is the accountability? Like me, most people are sick and tired of cover-up after cover-up. We are fed up with the protection of State institutions being sacrosanct. There is a vulnerable young woman - there are many other vulnerable adults - at the centre of this scandal and we know that it is by no means an isolated case. The ad hocapproach of State services, whether they are provided directly by the State or contracted out to other service providers, is an abomination. I commend the young social worker who acted as a whistleblower in this case. Her courage and the tenacity she showed in exposing the plight of Grace are laudable. As in the case of Sergeant Maurice McCabe, I hope her actions will serve to encourage others working in State institutions to come forward and expose the scandals and subsequent cover-ups that blight the nation.

While I am talking on this subject-----