Burton has ‘open mind’ on next step over Áras

Tánaiste Joan Burton has said she has an open mind on what should happen after the HSE and gardaí’s Áras Attracta abuse inquiries end.

The Labour leader took the position as calls were again made for an independent inquiry into the actions of a number of staff at the facility, and fresh concerns emerged over other care homes.

Speaking as public anger rose over the levels of abuse uncovered by more than 190 hours of hidden camera footage over a number of weeks, Ms Burton said she has an “open mind” over what the next step should be when the current inquiries end.

Voicing her upset and shock at the events, she said it was clear a lack of respect and dignity for patients was apparent at Áras Attracta, and that staff shortages cannot be used as a reason for what happened.

Ms Burton’s comments have left open the possibility for an independent inquiry into the abuse allegations at Áras Attracta.

While Taoiseach Enda Kenny has stressed that existing inquiries must be allowed to conclude their work before any other measures take place, opposition parties and affected families have said the State should not be in control of any investigation.

Fine Gael TD Fergus O Dowd told the Irish Examiner he would like to see an independent investigation, which he said could be led by someone with the “same authority” as the author of the report into the Leas Cross nursing home, Prof Des O Neill.

While existing HSE probes are being led by independent chairmen, Mr O Dowd said any wide-ranging examination of events must be controlled by “somebody who’s totally independent”.

Meanwhile, more complaints of the mistreatment of residents at public facilities have been put forward by some members of staff and families of service users at Áras Attracta and unrelated units.

It was claimed yesterday that a former employee of the under-fire facility previously raised concerns in a hand-written note to management about how people were being cared for.

However, instead of action being taken, it is alleged that senior officials handling the complaint simply passed it back and failed to act.

“There were a litany of issues over the years, and I wasn’t the only one raising concerns,” the former employee claimed. “Others also tried but the footage clearly shows little has changed.

“There are some really good people in Áras Attracta, but they have been silenced.”

A number of individuals who spoke to the Irish Examiner detailed experiences in facilities in Cork and Dublin. They included a cleaning lady who said she made a number of complaints about excessive force-feeding and “verbal abuse” of residents at one facility a number of years ago.

She said the complaints were not listened to for a number of months, until she contacted a relative of one of the residents, who resent the complaint, at which point management took action.

In another case, a constipated elderly man had forceps placed in his backside eight times by a nursing home assistant manager in a move Mr O Dowd said was “an act of torture”.