The family of the young girl known as ‘Sarah’ who was savagely abused in the Grace foster home have been denied access to her medical records for more than two years, despite apologies from the HSE for failing her, writes Daniel McConnell.

In an exclusive interview with the Irish Examiner, Sarah’s mother and sister reveal the family’s torment in their battle to get justice for her and how even now the system is denying them what they are legally entitled to.

Despite requesting the records back in 2015 through their solicitor, the HSE claims the matter is still under review and to date has not released the records.

This is despite Sarah, who is non-verbal, being subjected to the most savage abuse in the foster home, which she was removed from at the age of 12.

In the interview, Sarah’s mother recounts how she made the dreadful discovery her daughter, who was residing part time in the foster home, was being “schooled” by her abusers to drop her pants and adopt a sexual pose on the utterance of a particular phrase.

“One Sunday, the kids were gone with Daddy to the water. I was here and we were playing hide and seek and she was laughing and happy. Then, I just said certain words… and Sarah had been schooled and here in front of the fireplace. It was my worst nightmare,” Sarah’s mother says.

“A friend of mine came in to see me. She looked at me and said ‘you are very upset’ and I said ‘I am’.

“I asked her would she go into Sarah in the next room and asked her would she mind saying these words. She went in and said those same words and Sarah did the same thing. That was the day. She was a qualified nurse. It was an awful, awful day to be honest.”

But in relation to the records, which the family has sought since 2015, they have so far not been made available.

The family is seeking not just the records but also who had access to them as they believe there was a systematic attempt to suppress information in relation to how Sarah’s case was handled.

The family has disclosed how when they began to raise concerns as to her care, they found themselves under suspicion from authorities that the sexual abuse could have been happening in their home and not the foster home.

This story first appeared in the Irish Examiner.