Women kicked and slapped at care home

Elderly women with serious intellectual disabilities have been kicked, slapped, dragged across the floor and treated as "non-persons" by health workers in a special HSE facility meant to ensure their care.

The situation, which occurred at the Aras Attracta home in Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s constituency in recent weeks, and has been described as “abuse” on a par with cases “in eastern Europe”, will be aired on Prime Time tonight.

A pre-showing of the RTÉ Investigations Unit programme shows three women, aged between 53 and 75, repeatedly mistreated by staff, despite regulations to protect vulnerable residents. While new measures were put in place last year to supposedly ensure such incidents do not occur, the RTÉ programme will note HIQA — the body responsible for preventing this — failed to uncover what was happening, meaning similar events could be taking place elsewhere.

During the Prime Time programme, which was filmed at the facility in Swinford, Co Mayo, using hidden cameras for three weeks in October and November:

- One woman, 53-year-old Ivy McGinty, who has a severe form of autism, is seen in separate incidents being dragged across the floor by a nurse, sat on for minutes by a senior male manager, told to “fuck off” by a member of staff, that “nobody wants you” by another and hit with keys;

- Another woman, 75-year-old Mary Moloney, who has a serious intellectual disability, is mute, and has spent her life in care, is pinned down by a care assistant with her knee and dragged into a chair despite the fact she has arthritis, and threatened with being put out “on the porch”;

- A third, 65-year-old Mary Garvin, is kicked and ignored after asking to be brought to the bathroom. Staff said she was being punished because she would not sit in her chair the way they wanted it.

The footage also shows the women left for hours on chairs in a TV room, despite personalised care plans stating they need interaction.

Staff chatting in another part of the room joked about a former colleague who “you’d be afraid of” because she “reported everything”. However, they said that “worked against her” because “she’s not here now”.

While all of the residents in the footage can be challenging, experts said the footage cannot be condoned.

Prof Gerard Quinn, director of the centre for disability law and policy at NUI Galway, told the programme: “I’ve seen footage like this before but, to be frank, it’s from eastern Europe. I feel ashamed about this.”

The Aras Attracta facility was given a clear bill of health by HIQA in July after the watchdog previously raised serious concerns.

It is also the home where Albert Loughney, 72, died in November 2012. His postmortem listed extreme dehydration and malnutrition as “severe contributory factors” in his death.

The HSE has placed nine members of staff “off duty” without prejudice while it examines the incidents, while a Garda investigation is also taking place.