The latest revelations in the south east foster home abuse scandal raise more questions than answers, according to chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, John McGuinness.
The fact that at least one other highly vulnerable adult was allowed to continue staying in the foster home four years after the woman known as “Grace” was finally removed in 2009 highlights further apparent failings by the HSE in the south east. It also raises questions about how forthcoming officials have been about the case.
Why was this latest woman’s family not told there were alleged serious sexual abuse concerns about the foster home? On whose advice were they not told? And why did this only come to light during a radio interview yesterday with the director general of the HSE, Tony O’Brien?
Furthermore, why wasn’t the Minister for Primary Care, Kathleen Lynch told, when she asked almost two years ago whether anyone else was still in the home, that there was a young woman from the south east staying there on a private basis?
Speaking on RTÉ radio last Friday, she said she had been assured in April 2014, when she first heard of the case, that no further placements had been made following Grace’s removal.
However, Mr O’Brien said on RTÉ radio there had been further placements, including some outside the remit of the HSE. This included people who remained after Grace was removed.
Ms Lynch would not take questions on this latest development yesterday, a spokeswoman explaining that she is meeting Mr O’Brien today at the Department to discuss this complex case.
Mr McGuinness said it was time for all the facts on the case to come out. The concerns have been circulating among social workers, doctors and families in the region since at least 1995.
Assurances
A spokeswoman for Waterford Intellectual Disability Association said it had contacted the HSE in 2009 seeking assurances that families involved in private arrangements would be protected.
The Irish Times
also knows of an individual who contacted the local health authorities in the area from which this latest woman came on three occasions between 2010 and 2012, flagging concerns.
It is unclear whether those local health officials had been informed by health officials in a neighbouring care area, who were familiar with the reasons for Grace’s removal, of possible concerns for the remaining woman.
Mr McGuinness said: “The one person who has all this information is Tony O’Brien.”
Speaking on radio, Mr O’Brien agreed there had been “serious failings in care going back to 1983”. Mr O’Brien appears before the PAC tomorrow.
