The Disability Minister has said she cannot “second-guess” a report into the neglect of a disabled woman which established no findings that she had experienced sexual or emotional abuse.
The Farrelly Commission was set up in 2017 to examine the case of a woman, given the pseudonym Grace, who was in the care of the State for all her life.
Grace was an extremely vulnerable child who was non-verbal and had profound intellectual disabilities.
She was subjected to neglect while in the care of “Family X” between the ages of 10 and 30, a period spanning from 1989 up until when she was moved to residential care in 2009.
Concern had been raised after allegations of sexual abuse were levelled against her foster father relating to another person who was in his care.
The report of the Farrelly Commission, tasked with investigating disability services in the South East and the care of Grace, was published by Minister for Disability Norma Foley on Tuesday.
The Commission, led by Marjorie Farrelly, gathered 312,000 pages of documentation and its final report runs to more than 2,000 pages in six volumes.
The case has been the subject of significant attention and many questions have been raised about her care, including why she was not removed from the foster home after the allegation of sexual abuse and why her living situation was not regularly reviewed.
The allegations relate to Grace’s time in the care of a foster couple known as Mr and Mrs X, with whom she came to live in 1989.
She was not removed from the foster family even when a complaint of sexual abuse was made to the South Eastern Health Board against Mr X in 1996, in relation to another individual who was no longer in care of that family.
In 2007, a social worker who became aware of the previous allegation warned that Grace was vulnerable to exploitation, sexual abuse, financial abuse, physical abuse and neglect.
Grace was removed from Family X in 2009 and moved to a residential family.
A series of probes have been initiated since, including the investigation of the Farrelly Commission.
Ms Foley said the final report, which took eight years and cost €13.6 million, made no finding of “any evidence of physical abuse, emotional abuse or sexual abuse”.
It adds that it is not satisfied that the evidence establishes that marks or bruises sustained by Grace were as a result of physical abuse.
However, it does find there was a fundamental failure in the duty of her care through a general absence of oversight and monitoring by the HSE and the South Eastern Health Board.
It also finds Grace was neglected by Mrs X in relation to insufficient dental care, her poor attendance at a day centre, her clothing and hygiene, and financial mismanagement or abuse or misuse of disability allowance.
Mr X died some time in the early 2000s, while Mrs X died last year.
Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald has said she is “deeply shocked and disappointed” that the report has “no answers in it”.
Ms McDonald said she did not find the report credible and added: “I’m really shocked to hear that the report is so utterly anaemic, has no conclusions that tally in any way credibly with the information and complaints that was brought forward decades ago.”
Asked to explain how Grace had suffered injuries while in the foster home, Ms Foley said the Commission had examined incidents where she had bruising near her eye and around her body.
She said: “That was an an initial cause for extreme concern in relation to issues of abuse.
“Subsequently it was pointed out that when Grace moved to a residential facility, she continued to manifest at times bruising on different parts of her body.
“Indicating that she was a very active young person and she seemed to be susceptible to that. That is how the Commission addresses that.”
During a press conference in Dublin, Ms Foley was asked several times if she supported the findings of the report.
She said: “I can’t second-guess the Commissioner, all the evidence was available to the Commissioner.”
Ms Foley added: “Ms Farrelly was in possession of all of the facts, all of the information. This is what she is presenting. This is her report, these are her findings.”
Asked if she was satisfied that Grace was not a victim of sexual abuse, the minister said: “I can only go on the evidence that is provided by the Commissioner.”
Meanwhile, Ms Foley said she had asked for the report to have an executive summary that was accessible for members of the public, but this request was not met. She also said the length of time it took to complete the report was “frustrating”.
Asked if she had expressed those reservations to Ms Farrelly, the minister said: “Yes, I have.”
The Commission was also tasked with examining whether further investigations were necessary regarding a total of 47 others who had been in the care of Family X.
Ms Foley said: “The Commission has concluded that of the 47, there were 40 where there were no allegations. In relation to the seven there were two specifically where there were very serious allegations around sexual abuse.
“One of those, the individual had moved to England and the family did not wish to pursue.
“The second one, the Commission is very clear it is their view that there wasn’t a completed investigation, it should have been more thorough in relation to that.
“There is no additional evidence available from the Commission in relation to any of the outstanding cases.”
She added: “There were no prosecutions pursued by An Garda Síochána. So, for those reasons there is the recommendation around the Commission coming to a conclusion.”
Ms Foley said she had asked Ms Farrelly to contact the individuals who had assisted the Commission to inform them about the publication of the report in advance of Tuesday, but this did not happen.
Asked if she would appoint Ms Farrelly to conduct another inquiry of this kind, she said: “I would hope I never had an opportunity in terms of something like this happening in the future.”
