A umbrella group for organisations that lobby for people with disabilities has called on the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) to conduct an inquiry into the State’s continued use of facilities such as Áras Attracta.
Am RTÉ Prime Time report on the HSE-run care facility last December exposed force-feeding, slapping, kicking, physical restraint and shouting at residents.
Speaking at the National Disability Summit at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Thursday, Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) chief executive Phelim Quinn said the standards of care in some residential centres for persons with disabilities remain “disturbing and chilling”.
Mr Quinn also said that in some care homes “some staff appear not to be able to distinguish between what is an acceptable and unacceptable standard of care”.
At its AGM on Saturday, dubbed Áras Attracta – Four Months On, Inclusion Ireland called on the IHREC to conduct an inquiry into the continued and widespread use of "congregated settings" by the State.
Inclusion Ireland chief executive Paddy Connolly said “more urgency” was required to safeguard the human rights of residents in such facilities.
“There remain over 3,500 children and adults living in outdated institutionalised settings in which HIQA has identified significant human rights breaches,” he said. “The lack of investment by Government to move people from these institutions means that it could be 20 years before they are closed.
“As the statutory body tasked with protecting human rights, the IHREC should immediately use its powers of investigation and shine a light on the dark corners of these institutions and the continued failure of the Government to act in this area.
“There is Government policy in place to move people out of congregated settings, but this process is simply not moving quickly enough. HIQA has identified that there is a crisis currently taking place in these centres because of long-established culture of congregated settings.
“More urgency is required to effectively take action in this area and to finally encourage people to live a life of their choice and living independently in the community.
“The RTÉ Investigations Unit programme into Aras Attracta last December put this need into the spotlight.
“The investment is simply not there and people have been moved out of congregated settings in other countries and it’s time that action was taken in Ireland over this urgent matter.”
