THE FINAL REPORT into the ‘Grace’ case inquiry, published after a six year delay, finds the commission is not satisfied that there is evidence of physical, emotional or sexual abuse. 

The case concerns a young woman with profound intellectual disabilities who was left in a foster home in the Waterford area for almost 20 years, despite a succession of sexual and physical abuse allegations.

The Farrelly Commission of Inquiry was first established in 2017 by then-Taoiseach Enda Kenny to investigate the disability service in the South East, and the care and protection of ‘Grace’ and 47 other people who were also cared for in the former foster home, known as Family X.

The report was due to be published in May 2019, but has been given numerous extensions over the last number of years.

In 1995, on the back of claims that Grace suffered abuse in her foster home, the South Eastern Health Board decided not to place any more people in the home.

However, a decision to remove Grace was overturned in 1996.

As a result, she stayed in the home until a whistleblower’s complaint in 2009.

The controversy resulted in the then-HSE Director General Tony O’Brien apologising to the 47 families – including Grace’s – who were in the care of the home.

The report published today, which runs to 2,000 pages, states that the commission is not satisfied that the evidence was such as to establish that marks and bruises seen on Grace was a result of her having been subjected to physical abuse. 

The commission’s report outlines that it did not establish that Grace had been subjected to sexual abuse over the years that she lived with Family X. 

However, the commission is satisfied that there was neglect in the standard of care provided to Grace by Mrs X, in terms of her clothing and personal hygiene. The report does not find there was neglect of Grace in terms of the provision of food and sustenance while she lived with the family.

There is a finding of serious neglect on the part of Mrs X in relation to Grace’s dental care with the report stating there was also a level of financial mismanagement or abuse when it came to Grace’s disability allowance.  

Speaking about the report today, Minister for Children, Disability and Equality Norma Foley said the circumstances of Grace’s case, which began in the 1980s, are “harrowing, distressing, and without doubt had a devastating impact on her quality of life”. 

“It goes without saying that what Grace experienced was both intolerable and utterly unacceptable,” she added. 

“Grace’s mother, who was aged 17, had moved to a mother and baby home in Cork approximately two months prior to her daughter’s birth,” said the minister, outlining how Grace suffered significant trauma to her brain during birth. 

This resulted in her being diagnosed with microcephaly, a condition with results in profound lifelong intellectual and physical disability. She needed assistance with toileting, dressing, bathing, eating and other daily activities. The minister said she was a very “vulnerable child”.

She was placed with Family X after the age of 11, where the foster father, known in the report as Mr X, was 67 years of age and the foster mother, Mrs X, was 50 years old.

She stayed with them for the next 20 years. Despite an allegation of sexual abuse within the foster home in 1996, Grace was not removed. 

In 2007, a social worker warned that Grace was vulnerable to abuse and exploitation after he became aware of a previous allegation against Mr X. 

Grace was eventually removed from the home in 2009. 

Mr X died in the early 2000s while Mrs X died in 2024.

There were 47 other people who stayed with Family X throughout this period. 

One of the provisions of the commission of inquiry relates to whether facts and information gathered in the course of the investigation warrants further work, which the commission could undertake in the public interest. 

The report concludes that there is an absence of information in identifying issueS for further investigation with respect to matters to do with the role and conduct of public authorities in respect of seven cases identified, save for two cases, where the role of the public authorities has already been investigated and reported upon by the commission. 

On that basis, the Attorney General and the government has decided there is no basis for moving forward with phase two of the commission of investigation. A non-statutory safeguarding exercise will now be undertaken . 

The Commission of Investigation has cost around €13.6 million so far, and the final figure is expected to be even higher. That number includes administration costs, salaries, legal expenses and ward of court costs.