Sir, – Pamela Duncan's "HSE accused of ignoring failings in disability homes" (September 18th) is timely and significant. The characterisation by the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) of the treatment of some residents as "inhumane or degrading" calls out for a response.
I would be inclined to view the very existence of these institutions as “inhumane and degrading” – not to mention a scandalous waste of resources. By all means invest to remove poor conditions. But most importantly we should be moving resources toward more personalised, community-based options.
Prof Jim Mansell and others have done the maths. It’s not as if we don’t have credible cost-benefit analyses available. We do. And Martin Naughton and others have pressed this point home repeatedly.
I would not be surprised if this becomes a key election issue. – Yours, etc,
Prof GERARD QUINN,
Director,
Centre for Disability,
Law and Policy,
Lifecourse
and Society Institute,
NUI Galway.