€440k for victim of Áras Attracta abuse

A 78-YEAR-OLD woman whose ‘inhuman’ treatment at Áras Attracta was exposed by a TV documentary has been awarded €440,000 in damages and received an apology from the HSE.

The intellectually disabled woman, who cannot communicate verbally, was physically assaulted and emotionally abused while she was a resident at the now notorious Bungalow Three, the High Court heard.

The abuse came to light in December 2014 when RTÉ aired a Prime Time programme featuring an undercover investigation into conditions inside the bungalow at the HSE facility in Swinford, Co. Mayo.

Judge Peter Kelly, said: ‘This is a case which makes sad reading from the plaintiff’s view, and shameful reading from the point of view of the HSE... She suffered inhuman treatment at the hands of HSE personnel, involving physical and emotional abuse.’

The judge said the Prime Time programme ‘demonstrated the endeavours on behalf of the relevant personnel to suggest that she was placed on the porch of the premises because she liked and enjoyed it, when in fact it was some kind of punishment’.

He said the HSE began an investigation, and applied for her to be taken into wardship and given the protection of the court.

A statement was read to the court by Micheál Ó Scanaill SC, for the HSE. It apologised ‘unreservedly’ to the woman ‘for the manner in which she was treated, as was documented in the Prime Time programme’.

Additionally, John Fitzmaurice, general manager of disability services for the HSE in Galway, Mayo and Roscommon, gave undertakings including one that she would get enhanced day and night care, the use of a specially adapted car for two hours daily, and that she would keep her medical card.

Judge Kelly approved the €440,000 settlement, and said the money will be paid into the wards of court office, where it will be used to enhance her care and improve her life. He ordered that the woman not be named in news reports.