A WHISTLEBLOWER IN the ‘Grace’ case has said he told Simon Harris to shut down the Farrelly Commission in 2019, stating that in his view, it was a “complete waste of time”.

The commission published its 2,000-page report into the case yesterday. The report was overdue by six years having received a number of lengthy deadline extensions. 

It’s estimated the final bill will be approximately €20 million.

Speaking on RTÉ’s News At One today, whistleblower Iain Smith said his experience in dealing with the inquiry took its toll on him both emotionally and financially. 

Smith said he had to give evidence to the commission over 27 full days. 

He raised concerns about the process in a letter to then-health minister Simon Harris in May 2019.

He said Harris, now Tánaiste, was told the Commission was a “complete waste of time” and should be shut down.

“I wrote to Simon Harris in May 2019 saying the whole thing should be shut down because it was obvious to me then – and I told him then – that it was like I described to him, as a boondoggle, a complete waste of time, a project that is going absolutely nowhere.

“And I could see that very clearly way back then. So when this report came out yesterday it followed on from the previous reports that were issued, which I did read in detail, and they were a complete waste of time.

“So when this report came out, it was no surprise at all to me that it followed on from the previous report in being fundamentally of no use whatsoever,” Smith said today. 

Smith described in the interview today how he was an experienced social worker in the HSE when he first raised his concerns in 2007.

Grace’s mother had called his colleague to check how her daughter was doing in foster care. He said they were both surprised as the foster placement should have stopped when she was 18.

He said he conducted a “deep read line-by-line” of Grace’s file and allegations of child sexual abuse in the foster placement “going back quite a long way”.

Recalling a visit he had with Grace and her foster mother, Smith said “we were just horrified at the foster carer and some of the comments that she made”. 

The foster mother drew their attention to how slim Grace was and also said Grace thought she was 16, despite being an adult with a learning disability and a mental age of between one or two years.

He added: “So, these were grossly inappropriate things that the carer was saying.”

Smith said he then wrote a “very long report” with recommendations and names of other children that had been through the care of the foster family.

He also recalled taking Grace to hospital due to concerns over injuries she had, which are detailed in the commission report published yesterday and in subsequent reports. 

He said a lot of “shenanigans and intrigue” followed before Grace was eventually moved out of the home in 2009.

Smith said his work was made more difficult when files were taken off him and he was instructed not to work the case. He told RTÉ that he was also told not to contact Grace’s mother. 

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In 2018, while on holiday, hundreds of documents were sent to him by the commission, with Smith stating that he was told he had to read it all and respond promptly with his comments. 

The ‘Grace’ case should not be characterised as a series of institutional failures, said Smith. 

“This case was a long-running intrigue in which many, many different parties were involved over a long period of time.

“An intrigue is an entanglement. I mean, sort of ‘hair all tangled up’ is literally the read of that word – and that’s what this was.

“And trying to re-characterise this as somehow institutional failures is a fundamental error, not just at the Farrelly Commission, but also of other reports as well.”

Smith went on to state this is now a “strong deterrent” to whistleblowers in Ireland:

“The state can crush you, the state will try to crush you.”

“The state will ultimately win, that is what this case is about,” he concluded.

The Commission said it will not be responding to press queries about its reports.