The family of “Sarah”, a young woman allegedly sexually abused as a child at the “foster” home at the centre of the Grace case, has been left “potentially financially vulnerable” after participating in the Farrelly Commission of Investigation.
They say the commission has agreed to cover “only a fraction” of the costs they incurred participating in the inquiry.
The Farrelly commission report on what happened to Grace, a non-verbal intellectually disabled young woman, who remained at the foster home for 20 years, despite credible allegations of serious abuse there, was published on Tuesday.
It found there was no evidence she had suffered physical, sexual or emotional abuse, but she did experience severe neglect, especially in her dental care and hygiene, and financial mismanagement. It criticised a “general absence of oversight and monitoring” of Grace by the then South Eastern Health Board (SEHB) while she was in the home between 1989 and 2009.
Sarah was one of 47 other children placed in the home and one of seven about whose welfare in the home their families raised serious concerns.
Now a young woman, Sarah is also non-verbal and profoundly intellectually disabled. She stayed at the foster home in the southeast during weekdays from when she was a child in the 1980s to be close to the special school she attended, which was a three-hour round trip from her family home.
Her mother told The Irish Times in 2016 that the home, though not assessed by the SEHB as suitable for vulnerable children, was nonetheless recommended to her by the board.
Sarah, at primary school age at the time, stayed initially for two nights a week and this “transitioned into five nights”.
One evening, when their daughter was home, she was playing with her in the livingroom.
“I said something very ordinary and innocent to her. Her expression changed immediately. She stood up, took off her pants and laid back in a sexual position. I was shocked. I knew immediately something was wrong.”
They removed Sarah from the home in the 1990s and brought their concerns to the health board. They did not hear from the health board until 2007 when whistleblower and social worker Iain Smith, who was investigating Grace’s placement in the home, contacted them.
Sarah’s mother and sister spent several days giving evidence to the Farrelly commission in 2017 and 2018. Her sister had to take time off work and they spent many hours reading reports and documents on Sarah’s life history and time in the foster home.
“It was traumatic and emotional reading.”
Last Friday, they received a letter from their solicitor telling them the legal costs recoverable were limited by guidelines and procedures. “Unfortunately, the rates allowed are insulting, to put it mildly,” said the family’s solicitor.
“Only that we have wonderful support from our legal team, who have said they will waive our costs due to the horrific way we have been treated, we would be in serious, serious debt.
“We have been left potentially financially vulnerable. This commission cost €13.6 million. Where was that all spent?” she asked.
On Tuesday, Minister for Children Norma Foley said the seven families, including Sarah’s, who raised serious concerns about abuse in the home, would be invited to take part in a safeguarding review arising out of the report.
Sarah’s family has not been invited yet, but would be “open to engaging to ensure nothing like this happens again”.
A spokesman for Ms Foley said she hoped to appoint an expert on safeguarding to head the review before the summer recess.
They will review all failings in Grace’s care identified in the report, examine whether any such failings remain in the system and identify how best to remove them.
A spokesman for the Department of Children said: “Any matters relating to directions for legal costs are made by the commission under section 24 (1) of the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004.″
Marjorie Farrelly SC, the sole member of the commission, has been contacted for comment.
