{"id":136458,"date":"2025-10-21T17:09:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T17:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/136458\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T17:09:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T17:09:08","slug":"urgent-review-ordered-into-case-of-girl-in-state-care-allegedly-sexually-assaulted-in-saggart-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/136458\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Urgent\u2019 review ordered into case of girl in State care allegedly sexually assaulted in Saggart \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Government has ordered a review as a \u201cmatter of urgency\u201d into the alleged serious sexual assault of a girl who had been under the care of Tusla in west Dublin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Minister for Children Norma Foley<\/a> has said that she has tasked the National Review Panel, which examines serious incidents in the care of children, with carrying out an investigation into the incident. <\/p>\n

Ms Foley said that it was a \u201cvery, very worrying case\u201d but that she was limited in what she could say while a Garda investigation was ongoing. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s our human instinct really to want to mind and to guard and protect a child. And I\u2019m really, really conscious that at the heart of this is a child, and I want to say that that child is very much in my thoughts, and, like the rest of the country, in our thoughts and indeed in our heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

She announced on Tuesday that she has directed the National Review Panel (NRP) to \u201cimmediately begin a piece of work, an investigation, into this case.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat they would make whatever necessary findings or recommendations that they deem fit. And I\u2019ve asked them that they would do that as a matter of urgency and I want to acknowledge that they have agreed to do that,\u201d Ms Doley said. <\/p>\n

Asked if she had faith in Tusla, Ms Foley said \u201cI have no reason not [to] at this point.\u201d <\/p>\n

Ms Foley has discussed the case with Minister for Justice Jim O\u2019Callaghan<\/a>, following reports about the immigration status of the alleged perpetrator. She said that Mr O\u2019Callaghan had taken a \u201cvery firm line\u201d on deportations and that there have been an increase in deportations and chartered flights.<\/p>\n

Asked who would be held responsible if failings in state care were identified in this case, Ms Foley said: \u201cI don\u2019t wish to prejudice any case that is before the courts, that\u2019s hugely important.\u201d<\/p>\n

A man appeared in court on Tuesday charged with the alleged assault but he cannot be identified because of rules that apply to all sexual assault cases. The charge sheet states that the alleged assault took place at Garter Lane, Saggart.<\/p>\n

In an appeal to those planning to organise a protest on Tuesday evening near where the crime is alleged to have taken place, Ms Foley said she would \u201cask people to allow the process to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this point, all of the information that Tusla have provided, they have shown that they have provided for an appropriately registered, appropriate staffed environment for the child,\u201d Ms Foley said.<\/p>\n

Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a> confirmed details of the case review in the D\u00e1il.<\/p>\n

Mr Martin also said a wider review of State care is under consideration as he acknowledged that the State had not fulfilled its duty to protect this child.<\/p>\n

Mr Martin told Sinn F\u00e9in leader Mary Lou McDonald that Ms Foley has asked for the interim report into the case within six weeks.<\/p>\n

Ms McDonald had highlighted that the defendant in the case had been the subject of a deportation order signed in March.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan I ask how it is that a person issued for the deportation order remains in the country?\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Martin said: \u201cIt is the fundamental duty of the State to protect the children of the State and irrespective of the complexity, acuity or severity of any particular case that duty has to be fulfilled. And on this occasion that duty was not fulfilled.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms McDonald highlighted a number of cases of children who had gone missing and died who were in the State\u2019s care.<\/p>\n

The Taoiseach said it was unfair to conflate this with other cases. \u201cThe other cases are equally very difficult and grave.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are issues that need review more generally and I would acknowledge the concern, anger and worry of many people across the country at what has transpired here or alleged to have transpired and the concerns are legitimate,\u201d Mr Martin added.<\/p>\n

Independent TD Michael Fitzmaurice expressed concern at the \u201cwhole immigration process\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Government had said that they would process an applicant within six months. That has not happened. It is going on four, five and six years. I am asking you, when will that be resolved? Our system is broken.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Martin told him the asylum process \u201chas come under huge pressure in recent years, and particularly post-Covid 19, the numbers increased dramatically\u201d.<\/p>\n

This was in addition to the war in Ukraine and displacement of about 12 million Ukrainians. <\/p>\n

He acknowledged that a \u201cfaster and firm procedure\u201d was needed. The majority, \u201cI think 60 per cent or 70 per cent are judged to be economic migrants\u201d and that process is much faster.<\/p>\n

The appeal system \u201ccan take a bit longer\u201d, but 3,500 deportation orders were signed this year compared to about 2,400 last year and the numbers seeking asylum is down about 38 per cent.<\/p>\n

Sinn F\u00e9in has sought a meeting with the two ministers, Ms Foley and Mr O\u2019Callaghan, to discuss public safety issues after the alleged sexual assault. <\/p>\n

The incident had caused \u201cwidespread fear in the Saggart and surrounding areas,\u201d said Dublin midwest TD Eoin \u00d3 Broin, adding that the party\u2019s thoughts in the first instance were with the child.<\/p>\n

Mark Ward, the other Sinn F\u00e9in TD in the constituency, said the ministers should set out action to address safety concerns. \u201cWe have written to both ministers today seeking an urgent meeting and pressing them and other relevant State agencies to engage with the local community as a matter of urgency,\u201d Mr Ward said. <\/p>\n

The Taoiseach later re-iterated that legislation will be amended to place the National Review Panel on a statutory footing after Independent TD Paul Gogarty raised concerns about the panel\u2019s independence.<\/p>\n

The Dublin Mid-West TD said \u201cthe special rapporteur on child protection recently suggested that this panel is not operationally independent of Tusla and has no legislative authority to produce reports and lacks transparency\u201d.<\/p>\n

He asked when it would be put on a legislative footing so it could produce \u201ctruly independent reports\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mr Martin said it is the intention of the Minister for Children to amend legislation to give Tusla statutory authority he would \u201cget the specifics\u201d about it for Mr Gogarty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Government has ordered a review as a \u201cmatter of urgency\u201d into the alleged serious sexual assault of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136459,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,10,18,13,14,6,19,17,11,12,15,16,5,7,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-136458","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-featured-news","12":"tag-featurednews","13":"tag-headlines","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland","16":"tag-latest-news","17":"tag-latestnews","18":"tag-main-news","19":"tag-mainnews","20":"tag-news","21":"tag-top-stories","22":"tag-topstories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}