Maria McCormack (Sinn Fein)

I will start with Grace in mind. One of the things that defines us as human beings and sets us apart from all other creatures is our ability to communicate and give voice to our experiences, fears, suffering and hopes. The very act of being heard is central to our humanity. For those who cannot speak or whose voices are not heard, they are utterly dependent on all of us, including the State and its institutions, to protect and advocate for them and act in their best interests. Grace could not speak for herself and in her silence the State failed her, not once but over and over again.

The Farrelly report was supposed to finally give voice to her story, but with 2,000 pages and at a cost of nearly €14 million, the report has delivered silence once more. It has failed to answer the central harrowing questions that must be asked. Why Grace was placed in a home that was never formally assessed or approved for a foster placement? How can that happen? Why did no social worker visit her for six full years? How was it possible that credible allegations of abuse, including sexual abuse, were discounted and dismissed from the report? Why, after she was removed from the placement, was she sent back?

This is not just about historic wrongs; it is about the ongoing failure of transparency and accountability because, disturbingly, submissions on behalf of Grace by the General Solicitor for Minors and Wards of Court, who was appointed to protect her interests, were simply omitted from the final report. How can that be justified? How, after everything that Grace has suffered, can her voice once again be silenced?

The report exposed the fact that what happened should never have happened, but the process of repeatedly covering up what was happening shows a culture of secrecy that has been at the heart of many of our darkest institutional failures, from mother and baby homes to the Magdalen laundries and industrial schools. Let us not even refer to nursing homes.

This case is beyond horrific. There were failures that were ignored and covered up which snowballed into enormous tragedies. The Farrelly commission report is a deeply troubling part of the wider pattern, a report that after years of work delivers nothing close to the justice that was promised and which Grace deserves. The very least we owe Grace and every child in State care is full accountability. That begins with full transparency.

Ms Marjorie Farrelly must now come before the Oireachtas to explain omissions and decisions. Why were the submissions made on behalf of Grace not incorporated into the report? We have to try to hear Grace's voice in some form. Why were the experiences of other children who passed through the foster home not investigated? This is really serious. Why after all this time is there so much silence? We are judged as a society by how we protect those who cannot protect themselves. In this case, we have fallen far short. There is still time to do the right thing. Grace deserves nothing less.