From top: Four Courts, Dublin ; Michael Noonan
This afternoon
In the High Court.
Mr Justice Peter Kelly approved a settlement involving a package worth €6.3million for Grace, the non-verbal, intellectually disabled woman who is now in her 40s and who lived with an abusive foster family for 20 years, until 2009.
Grace lived in the home for almost 13 years after the local health board decided to stop placing children at the home in 1996. The decision to remove Grace came after the mother of a female service user claimed her daughter was sexually molested while she had spent a week on holiday/respite at Grace’s foster home.
The decision to reverse this decision to remove Grace occurred after a letter was sent by the foster father to then Minister for Health Michael Noonan in August, 1996.
The letter to Mr Noonan, which had been copied to the health board, appealed to the minister to “decide in their favour”.
Also in August 1996, Mr Noonan received a letter from the principal of a school attended by the foster parents’ grandson, in which the principal wrote in support of Grace staying with the foster family.
The matter is the subject of a Commission of Investigation, chaired by SC Marjorie Farrelly, launched in March of this year.
Further to this…
RTE reports:
Mr Justice Peter Kelly approved a settlement involving a package of measures worth €6.3m for the woman referred to as ‘Grace’.
The Health Service Executive apologised to the woman in court for the failings in her care.
The failings included inadequate monitoring and oversight of her care and inadequate action to remove her from the foster home after significant concerns had been raised.
In its apology the HSE said the care she received fell short of the compassionate, caring and personalised support that she was entitled to.
It said the HSE had taken steps locally and nationally for continued service improvements, standards and safe care.
…Mr Justice Kelly said a decision had been made in 1996 to remove ‘Grace’ from the foster family. But he said that decision had been reversed by a three-person committee in the health board for reasons which remained a mystery to this day.
He said this was after representations were made by the foster parents to the then minister for health.
…He asked what extraordinary hold the foster family had over the health board officials who made the decision. He said if it was not for the fact that a commission of inquiry has been set up, he would have wanted answers to these questions.
High Court approves €6.3m settlement for Grace (RTE)
Mickey Noo looks very pale there.
A fine shade of grey-yellow with a tinge of Sith.
Whatever he has, I hope it’s rare and very fupping painful. I don’t want him to die from it, but I’d be content to let it bother him badly for the rest of his long, miserable life.
Hep B/C would do nicely
that’s a bloody horrific thing to say, I’m frequently astounded at the lack of ability some of you lot have to disagree or dislike without despising and wishing harm.
you certainly lose whatever sort of moral high ground you might imagine you’re standing on.
…very admirable Harry…and normally I would agree…but in Baldys case I hope he lives a very long life and dies the slow and lingering death that he has bestowed on others…
It is an awful thing to say Harry, I agree, but Noonan is an awful man who has frequently shown that he is happy to sacrifice the welfare and needs of the most vulnerable -as evidenced by this Grace case- happy to chase a dying woman through the courts for his own gain, whether personal or professional. He cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be called a decent man.
If there is such a thing as karma, I hope it returns upon him some of what he has visited on the world.
karma
3 nameless people is all it took to send a child back to unthinkable torture for another decade. Will commission ever release names, or will it take time until nameless are 6ft under, or to old to be in prison, which seems to be the norm now for elite corruption .
I wonder who this foster family are. I seems quite mental that they could manage to overrule the committees recommendation, especially due to the allegations, so easily with just a word in the ear of Noonan.
I read that wrong, the committee reversed the decision. I read good. Still though, exactly what connections do this family have? It is quite extraordinary.
Noonan has a lot to answer for. Has there been any attempt at an explanation from him yet?
He seems to have been sympathetic to a paedophile here. Why?
probably a good party man, that’s all that really matters
a good Fine Gaeler in West Waherfurd
I wonder who that could be……………
Senior
The daddy BTW
Before anyone else poos themselves
The damage is done, Frilly.
Michael Noonan, worst minister of health ever..
Noonan has a lot of questions to answer. No doubt the Establishment media won’t be doing that.