Be true to your word, Leo, and answer these worrying questions
IN 2014, the then-minister for Transport Leo Varadkar garnered much attention and praise when he supported Garda whistleblowers, saying they shone ‘a light into a dark place and forced those, who would rather turn a blind eye, to face up to the truth’.
Today, the Irish Mail On Sunday reveals that another whistleblower who has done the State some service, the social worker who exposed the mistreatment of a profoundly intellectually disabled woman known as ‘Grace’, has serious questions for the now Taoiseach.
Those questions relate to how he reacted to other serious examples of abuse and failures by the HSE.
Between 2014 and 2015, when Mr Varadkar had assumed the Health portfolio, the whistleblower presented him with a dossier of alleged abuse that included shocking details of children at risk.
These included a child who was being raised by a paedophile; another vulnerable child who died, despite written warnings about the danger the child was in; and adult victims who had been abused by carers since childhood but who still had not been removed from those abusive situations.
In addition, a HSE employee was paid to do a master’s degree in child psychology at a time when he had pleaded guilty to child-pornography offences, while a pre-school manager, who had slapped an intellectually disabled, non-verbal child in the face, was allowed remain in her post.
The whistleblower rightly wants to know: where are these children and vulnerable adults now? Are they safe? Is anyone investigating these alleged perpetrators? All reasonable questions. Instead, this brave individual, the type of person so lauded by Mr Varadkar in 2014, remains deeply unsatisfied.
By the time he left the HSE in 2017, he was not satisfied his concerns has been addressed and he had been provided with no information that anything has been done since. The only option open to him has been to make a protected disclosure to this newspaper. It surely is time that Mr Varadkar really shines a light into dark places. He must convince the whistleblower he actually meant what he said in 2014, and that he still means it.
Above all, he must prove that he has acted to protect the most vulnerable children, those in the care and protection of the State.
DELANEY DEBACLE RISKS GRASSROOTS
FOR far too long, John Delaney ran the FAI as his own personal fiefdom in the full glare of the public – quite literally when he displayed largesse at away matches buying pints for fans.
Nonetheless, Friday’s figures revealing the scale of the debt at the association, and the scale of Mr Delaney’s payout, came as a bombshell. These liabilities, coupled with the departure of key sponsors, put the employees of the association at risk of losing their jobs.
There is even a grave risk to the game itself; the grassroots have been so badly let down, the social good of having young people play the game is demeaned, and they could easily be lost to the sport or, indeed, all sports.
Newly appointed executive Paul Cooke delivered some straight talking as the figures were published, describing himself as ‘shocked’. His honesty and alarm are to be applauded.
Hopefully, if he continues to run the FAI in this more open way, there is some hope that its reputation can be rescued and the sport can thrive.