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October 2016 3 7
O
n 4 January 2016 I found myself in a court-
room in Castlebar, Co. Mayo. One man and
five women were on trial, charged with
assault alleged to have occurred in Áras
Attracta. Sitting in the courtroom my hope
was to use this experience as part of my own catharsis,
having lived through physical abuse in Áras Attracta
which is the HSE-run residential centre in Swinford,
County Mayo where 96 men and women with intellectual
disabilities live. It featured of course in a recent exposé
by RTÉ's Prime Time programme.
Bodily integrity, in the context of receiving support for
personal care, brings an unspoken vulnerability. Fear is
ever-present. Dignity and respect should be basic imper-
atives. Those of us involved in the rhetoric of human
rights and the independent-living movement must
remember that our sisters and brothers with learning
disabilities are uniquely susceptible to abuse.
The material captured on the hidden camera placed
by Prime Time’s undercover reporter showed staff shout-
ing, pushing, force-feeding and dragging residents
across the floor. The footage was used in evidence in the
case by the State prosecutor. The five staff, including
nurses and care workers, were found guilty of assault.
All but one avoided jail terms. Four were sentenced to
community service orders in lieu of prison terms. The
fifth was given a prison term of four months which is cur-
rently under appeal.
The protracted saga of Áras Attracta is a reminder of
the slow pace of the State’s apparatus. Two years on
from Prime Time’s exposure of what was happening in
Áras Attracta an independent review group published
the ‘What Matters Most’ report in August with thirteen
recommendations and an action plan for all congregated
settings.
The most pertinent of these was to “accelerate the pro-
cess of supporting people to move into community living,
avoiding transitional arrangements”. The HSE has com-
mitted to implementing this and claims that “individual
needs assessments have been completed for all resi-
dents to identify their future support requirements to
live a successful life in the community”.
The independent report stated there was “widespread
institutional conditioning and control” of people living
in Áras Attracta. It found that this was generally imposed
for the convenience of staff and management and the
model of service was structured to suit staffing con-
straints rather than the needs and aspirations of
residents. The review group recommended a move to a
rights-based social model of service delivery in one of
its overarching recommendations for Áras Attracta.
Most service-providers for people with disabilities are
state-funded. They remain institutions where power and
control exerted over us and people’s right to independ-
ence and choice is denied. The report tells those of us
who have to have relationships with service providers
nothing new. It confirms unspoken realities. There have
been a series of HIQA reports on these services that back
up this analysis. The inertia in implementing recommen-
dations from these reports coupled with the lack of
rights-based legislation further demonstrates state iner-
tia when it comes to people with disabilities.
The Áras Attracta situation merely highlighted the
insidious practices that take place in residential institu-
tions. Often there is an inference that somehow people
who are abused brought it on ourselves. In the context
of Áras Attracta, what was considered, or diagnosed as
challenging behaviour could better be described as very
challenging circumstances for the residents. There are
still over 2,700 people living in congregated settings
throughout the country. Residential settings echo a dis-
credited previous era. We suspect, we fear and we know.
However, still they continue.
Twenty-seven people currently living in Áras Attracta
are now waiting to move into new supported accommo
-
dation. The Minister for people with disabilities, Finian
McGrath, has announced that the Government has pro
-
vided a dedicated €100m capital fund to facilitate
de-congregation over the period 2016-2021. €20m has
been provided for 2016 and Áras Attracta has been pri
-
oritised to receive funding in this first phase. Action is
now needed, not just another report or political promise
that will become redundant as time passes and nothing
changes.
The kernel of the ‘What Matters Most’ report is in the
overaching recommendation for Áras Attracta that “The
voices of the residents need to be facilitated, listened to
and promoted”.
Why would you need to make such a
recommendation? What has gone so badly wrong that
this has to be one of only three overarching recommen-
dations. Fostering the independent voice of the people
accessing services, attending to their preferences, and
ensuring people know their rights and have access to
advocacy services should have been a given. These are
the voices that must now determine the future.
Áras Attracta lesson:
rights-based model
Most service-providers for people with
disabilities exert control over them
There are still
over 2,700
people living in
congregated
settings
throughout the
country, echoing
a discredited
previous era
by Rosaleen
McDonagh
