HSE boss denies Grace carer unfairly treated
An internal audit report, completed by consultants Deloitte into the funding issues, confirms there was a dispute over the level of funding to care for Grace since 2009 after she was removed from the foster home at the heart of the ongoing sex abuse scandal.
The report has been obtained by the Irish Examiner.
Grace was left to be sexually and physically abused in a Waterford foster home until 2009 despite concerns being raised as far back as 1992. Her case is now the subject of a commission of inquiry.
According to the report, there was a long-standing dispute over the underfunding. As part of a €6.3m High Court settlement earlier this year, the HSE agreed it had underfunded Grace’s care and paid €600,000 to the caregiver. It also agreed to pay an additional €70,000 every year to cover the cost of Grace’s care into the future.
“The Service Provider calculated the total cost of 1:1 day care for the individual was €964,056 from 2009 to 2016. The Service Provider represented to us that it received €370,000 (€20,000 in 2009 and €50,000 per annum from 2010 onwards) from the HSE towards the cost of the individual’s incremental day care, ie a difference of €594,056,” states the report.
When Deloitte examined the figures, it calculated the shortfall was actually €617,367. The Deloitte report has vindicated the caregiver’s criticisms of the HSE, confirming entirely the scale of the costs in ensuring Grace’s care was adequate.
An apparent inconsistency has arisen in Mr O’Brien’s evidence to the public accounts committee (PAC) in relation to its funding of the service provider for Grace’s care.
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The Deloitte report confirms that on November 18, 2014, HSE Southeast prepared an internal memo setting out its calculation of the contribution towards the cost of care of the individual HSE Southeast understood it was providing on an annual basis, which was €166,000.
Asked by PAC member Shane Cassells (FF) about this memo, Mr O’Brien denied there was one. “I do not believe there was an internal audit. Was there?”
I believe there possibly was,” said Mr Cassells.
Would that audit have been carried out by the HSE’s internal audit division,” asked Mr O’Brien.
That is correct,” said Mr Cassells.
I do not believe there was,” restated Mr O’Brien.
The report was released to the PAC after several months of delay following the consent of senior counsel Marjorie Farrell, the sole member of the commission of inquiry. She intends to publish her interim report on Grace’s case before the end of the year.
In his letter to the PAC, Mr O’Brien said the HSE believed the funding it had given to Grace’s caregiver was “deemed sufficient”.
“Notwithstanding, the HSE agreed to update the previously agreed payment schedule for the individual’s care going forward and to pay a High Court-approved settlement of €600,000 for past care,” he said.
