Call for Govt to examine cases of 47 vulnerable children | Breaking News & Latest Ireland Updates

Call for Govt to examine cases of 47 vulnerable children — Green Party leader and former minister for children Roderic O'Gorman has said he believes the Government should find a way to examine the cases of 47 ...

Green Party leader and former minister for children Roderic O'Gorman has said he believes the Government should find a way to examine the cases of 47 other vulnerable children placed in the foster home at the centre of the Grace case.

However, he said any such move should in his view not take the form of a Commission of Investigation due to the prolonged nature of such inquiries.

While the near 2,000 page, eight year Farrelly Commission was initially tasked in 2017 with examining both the Grace case and the cases of 47 other children placed at the same home in the 1980s and 1990s, its final report published a fortnight ago instead focused only on the Grace case.

Among its findings, it recommended that a wider investigation into the other 47 cases - known as phase two of the inquiry - should not take place.

Speaking on RTÉ's Saturday with Áine Kerr, Mr O'Gorman - who was minister for children until November's general election and at the time was the commission's line minister - said while the Farrelly Commission has recommended no further investigation, the final decision is made by the Government.

Mr O'Gorman said in his view examining this stage of the case through a Commission of Investigation may prove difficult, but he said he still believes the Government should find an alternative way to do so.

"I don't believe a Commission of Investigation is the right way to address the allegations and concerns around these 47 other families.

"But that isn't to say Government shouldn't find something appropriate for their situation and give them the answers and accountability they deserve," he said.

Mr O'Gorman said "I'm not sure do we have the right device" in the existing legislation governing commissions of investigation to examine "issues that are historic, where people are deceased, and which require a resolution".

He said that while the Farrelly Commission recommended no further investigation, "ultimately it's a political call in terms of next steps" and "a matter for Government, they make the final decision".

"For an issue like this, touching on abuse, human trauma, on real tragedy, I'm more and more persuaded that a Commission of Investigation process, for these deeply sensitive issues, it can't get the sort of resolution that victims and families are seeking," he said.

Meanwhile, Mr O'Gorman separately confirmed that the Department of Children received a draft version of the Farrelly Commission report last July when he was still minister.

He said that he and then Fianna Fáil TD and minister for disabilities Anne Rabbitte had both pushed for the report's publication in 2023 and 2024 when the Farrelly Commission was seeking extensions.

However, when the draft report was received further legal and policy implications were involved, including up to when he said "we were facing directly into a general election".

He said during the election campaign "Cabinet only meets once and it's not to make any major decisions", meaning publishing it at that time would be difficult, while directly after the election a minister needed to be in place to make "a major decision" such as publishing the report.