Independent inspections of homes for people with an intellectual disability are to begin shortly, the Government has confirmed.
Minister for State with responsibility for Disability Kathleen Lynch said today she had urged the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) to commence inspections as soon as possible.
The authority is already charged with inspecting nursing homes and Ms Lynch said a similar inspection process would be used in residential settings for people with an intellectual disability.
Approximately 8,000 adults with intellectual disability are living in residential care and at present no independent inspections of homes take place.
Ms Lynch said she had met with Hiqa yesterday and instructed it to put the necessary standards in place to allow inspections to commence.
"The structure to a great extent will follow the model of nursing homes, that is, that institutions and different settings...will have to register and then put the standards in place and then be inspected," she said in an interview on RTÉ's Morning Ireland.
Ms Lynch said she had been informed by the authority that it could take up to 18 months to put mechanisms in place for inspections to begin. However, the Minister said she wanted the process to be speeded up.
"We're not starting from scratch like we did with nursing homes. We know how to do it, we know what we need but there are still certain things that need to happen," she said.
Advocacy group Inclusion Ireland welcomed this morning's announcement with its chief executive Deirdre Carroll saying it had lobbied for such inspections for the past 15 years.
The Government's announcement coincides with a Primetime Investigates programme broadcast last night which reported on some of the inadequacies in services for people with an intellectual disability.
Ms Lynch said last night's programme showed the necessity for independent inspections of institutions.
The Careers Association said the programme highlighted the appalling conditions that some people with intellectual disabilities are experiencing in residential care.
"This programme again brings home the fact that community and home care is, in most cases, the best option. Not only is this option largely preferred by those who require care and allows families stay together, it is also the most economical, costing the State significantly less than providing residential care" said the organisation's communications manager Catherine Cox.
The association called for the immediate implementation of the National Carers Strategy, which it said "was crucial for the long term continuation of care in the home."
