Calls for public inquiry into care abuse

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has come under intense pressure to open a public inquiry into the Áras Attracta abuse scandal, after families said the State cannot be trusted to root out what happened.

The stand-off occurred as two more nurses at the care home were suspended due to footage RTÉ could not broadcast, and the HSE confirmed plans to send undercover inspectors into facilities to prevent abuse.

Speaking in the Dáil, Mr Kenny said he was appalled, describing the scenes as “another example of Leas Cross. Frightening, sickening, infuriating”.

Health Minister Leo Varadkar went further, saying it was “like watching a horror movie. The problem was it wasn’t. It was real”.

After opposition calls for an independent inquiry Mr Kenny said it was “not ruled out”, but argued it should wait until HSE and Garda inquiries conclude.

However, Sheila Ryan — whose sister Mary Garvan was shown being kicked and threatened — said the independent inquiry was needed, an issue underlined by officials admitting they cannot be certain abuse is confined to one home.

Insisting she has no trust in the State, the former Department of Justice official said independence must take place as the current inquiries are “closed door”, and called on Mr Kenny and Mr Varadkar to “not wait for somebody to die”.

Her views were supported by disability group Inclusion Ireland, which said “HSE management are ignoring the drastic steps required to reform the entire system”.

The calls came as HSE director general Tony O’Brien said he was “seriously considering” sending undercover officials to facilities to catch abuse as it happens.

Likening Áras Attracta to the Letterfrack industrial home, he said the move was due to concerns previous inspections had been “hoodwinked”. While ruling out hidden cameras for privacy reasons, he said officials posing as “interns” could significantly improve the Health Information Quality Authority’s (Hiqa) scope in investigations and act as a deterrent even when they are not really there.

The issue will be discussed at a major HSE meeting on the matter next Tuesday, alongside suggestions by Ombudsman Peter Tyndall, who said he can examine 160 individual complaints which Hiqa is precluded from investigating as existing legislation means it can only look at wider service issues.

Two more Áras Attracta nurses have been put “off duty” in addition to the nine suspended without prejudice last week. They are an agency worker and manager implicated in footage of other residents, which RTÉ could not show as the families did not give consent.

The Irish Examiner understands officers leading the Garda inquiry, who have all 190 hours of RTÉ film, have interviewed every individual accused of abuse.

However, no decision on whether they will face prosecutions will be made until after the inquiry concludes.