Ombudsman for Children Emily Logan has reiterated her call on the Government and health authorities to initiate independent inspections of residential facilities for children with intellectual disabilities.
Such inspections should begin "immediately", Ms Logan said in a statement yesterday. She was commenting on the publication this week of a report into sexual and physical abuse at the Brothers of Charity services in Galway.
The report, compiled by Dr Kevin McCoy for the Health Service Executive (HSE) West, found that 18 men, including 11 Brothers of Charity, were investigated in connection with allegations of abuse against 21 children with intellectual disabilities at facilities in Galway city and county over a period of 33 years.
Only two convictions have occurred as a result of a separate Garda investigation into the allegations, which involved children as young as eight who suffered abuse, including rape.
Ms Logan said Dr McCoy's report outlined the "unacceptable failure to protect and promote the rights, welfare, dignity and wellbeing of children and young people with intellectual disabilities".
She said the Government and health authorities must acknowledge the "clear duty of care they hold".
Statutory provision for independent inspection of residential centres is already in place in the 2007 Health Act, the ombudsman said, and she had met with both the HSE and the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) to express her concern that independent inspections have not yet begun.
Dr McCoy's report recommends the eventual transfer of care for some 3,000 people in such campus-style institution settings to families and the community, with appropriate investment in same.
Inclusion Ireland, the national association for people with disability, said its members were "deeply saddened and angry" at the contents of the McCoy report, with some of the cases occurring as recently as 1998.
Deirdre Carroll, chief executive officer of Inclusion Ireland, said the organisation had been calling for the introduction of national standards and inspection of residential centres and community homes for children and adults with disabilities since the mid-1990s, and "nothing has been done".
"There are currently nearly 400 children with disabilities living in residential settings, whose homes are not inspected and where there are no national care standards applicable," she said.
"These children are among the most vulnerable in society, yet we offer them less protection than other children at risk.
"For example, children in care have their homes independently inspected against national standards under the Children's Acts. Children with an intellectual disability have no such protection," she said.
People with Disabilities in Ireland, a cross-disability organisation funded by the Government, has also called for immediate implementation of the recommendations in the McCoy report.
Michael Ringrose, chief executive of the organisation, said 90 per cent of the disability budget with the Department of Health and Children was assigned to non-statutory bodies operating independently. A more "robust system" of contract arrangements is required, he said, and "regular unannounced checks" were also "critical".
The HSE said it accepts all of Dr McCoy's recommendations and has drawn up an action plan to implement them. It has also apologised to all victims and their families and has set up a telephone helpline for people affected by publication of the report, at 1800 234 114 (office hours) and 1800 235 235 (after hours).