Fitzgerald hints at legal move over abuse

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has opened up the possibility of criminal action in response to the Áras Attracta scandal after it emerged that a 12th worker at the home has been suspended over abuse claims.

At the launch of the new family law courts site, Ms Fitzgerald said “clearly the gardaí will be examining it if there are any criminal justice issues in relation to the actions” at the facility, which were uncovered by an RTÉ hidden-camera exposé.

Ms Fitzgerald said that she has been out of the country in recent days attending a European conference and, as such, was “not fully up to date” on the deepening controversy.

However, stressing that she and anyone else should be “horrified” to see “abuse of this nature”, the justice minister said the possibility of criminal action is being considered.

Commenting on the issues at the Co Mayo facility and an unrelated incident at the Redwood Extended Care facility in Stanmullen, Co Meath, which has been ordered by Hiqa to cease admissions due to concerns about its over-use of physical restraints, she added: “We cannot tolerate situations where vulnerable people are placed in abuse situations.”

Ms Fitzgerald’s comments came as a 12th worker at Áras Attracta was put “off duty” by the HSE in response to the concerns raised by the undercover footage.

Like nine individuals initially suspended without prejudice last week and two more on Wednesday, the 12th person will continue to receive full pay while two HSE inquiries and a separate garda investigation take place.

HSE director general Tony O’Brien said earlier this week this is because employment law states that a person cannot be docked pay until a disciplinary inquiry confirms wrongdoing.

The 12 workers include a clinical nurse manager who was seen sitting on an elderly woman with severe intellectual disabilities before asking her to apologise for the incident, four fully trained nurses — three of whom are on the intellectual disability nursing register — and at least six care assistants.

The suspensions come as research published two years ago at a social care conference showed one in three managers working in the child, disability, and elderly care sectors have no formal management training, while one in five have no formal supervision from their line manager.

Meanwhile, three advocacy groups for people with disabilities have called for an independent inquiry into abuse in the intellectual disabilities sector, which they believe is not confined to Áras Attracta.

The Special Needs Parents Association, Down Syndrome Ireland, and Inclusion Ireland issued a joint statement calling for the move, saying existing HSE investigations — which are being led by two independent chairs appointed by the State — will not go far enough.

Mirroring calls from the Disability Federation of Ireland and the family of Áras Attracta resident Mary Garavan, SNPA spokeswoman Lorraine Dempsey said she and others are aware of a number of other cases of alleged abuse practices.