THE CLOSURE of a bungalow housing people with intellectual disabilities at a facility in Co Mayo will cause overcrowding and poor living conditions, a representative organisation has warned.
Inclusion Ireland said closing a residential bungalow at Áras Attracta in Swinford, Co Mayo, would force 10 people with intellectual disabilities to move into unsuitable homes on the campus.
A similar bungalow housing 10 people closed at Áras Attracta in March 2009 and the HSE plans to close another home on the campus on Friday, June 18th.
Some 1,200 people have joined a Facebook campaign aimed at preventing the closure of homes at the facility. Noel Giblin, western regional representative of psychiatric nurses, said nursing staff at the facility were “appalled” by the planned closure of the bungalow because residents would be housed in homes that did not suit their particular needs.
“The residents living in the bungalow have mild intellectual disabilities. If they are moved they will have to share a home with people that have serious behavioural issues. These people are the most vulnerable in our society and the closure of the bungalow will mean they will be housed in overcrowded homes that do not suit their particular needs,” he said.
A relative of a resident moved into a different home last year said she had noticed a considerable change in her brother’s mood because he has been placed in an unsuitable home.
“My brother often comes back to the family home for weekends and he always complains that he doesn’t want to go back. He was fine before he was forced to move house, now he’s very unhappy.
“Many of the people in his present home have more serious behaviour issues and there is a lot of arguing and quarrelling in the house,” she said.
Inclusion Ireland’s chief executive Deirdre Carroll said: “It is simply not good enough that people are being forced to move in with other people, whom they do not choose to live with, in overcrowded conditions.
Michael Tobin, HSE manager with responsibility for Áras Attracta, said any change to residents’ accommodation was due to the decline in the number of clients at the facility, which had fallen by five since the start of the year.
“All changes to the accommodation arrangements are discussed with the clients and their families and are subject to clinical and risk assessment by a multi-disciplinary team.”