Speech by Liam Herrick, IHREC Chief Commissioner (delivered 23 March 2026)
Good afternoon everyone and thank you all for being here. It’s really encouraging to see so many people in the room who are working across policy, oversight and monitoring, advocacy and rights protection.
I want to extend a particularly warm welcome to our colleagues from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Susan Kenefick and Nevena Peneva, who have joined us today for our event.
We’ve come together because FRA’s recent report Places of care = places of safety? raises very serious questions about how safe people with disabilities actually are in places that are supposed to provide care and support.
As we have heard, the FRA report looks at violence and abuse in institutional and care settings across Europe, and it includes a specific report on the Irish case. In asking the simple but very important question: are places of care actually places of safety?
The report highlights how environments that are meant to provide support can sometimes become places where people’s rights are restricted, where autonomy is lost, and where abuse can occur.
Across Europe, the report identifies patterns that many of us recognise: chronic understaffing, limited resources, and cultures within institutions where harmful practices can become normalised.
We are talking about experiences that include verbal abuse, coercive practices, involuntary treatment, unlawful restraints, over-medication, financial exploitation, and in some cases sexual violence.
The people most at risk are often those who already face the greatest barriers, people with intellectual disabilities, children, and older persons.
The report is difficult reading. It highlights in stark detail the systemic deficiencies in our places of care, and the resulting impact on many of those who reside there.
While many disabled people and their advocates have been raising these concerns for years, the documentation in this report of the scale of the egregious human rights violations which are being experienced presented a call to action, and potentially a window to focus political and administrative attention on solutions to the structural problems identified.
So today I want to spend a few minutes reflecting on what the report tells us, how it connects with our own perspectives as the Independent Monitoring Mechanism for Ireland under the CRPD.
And in particular – I want to focus on what this report tells us about which reforms are required in law, policy and practice to address the prevalence and persistence of all forms of violence within all types of institutions in Ireland.
Ireland’s Experience
As most of us are aware, Ireland has a long and painful history of institutionalisation. Many people spent years, sometimes decades, living in settings where their rights and dignity were not respected.
The legacy of places like the Mother and Baby Homes and the Magdalene Laundries is still with us today. And unforgivably, for survivors, the harm did not end when those institutions closed.
Many continue to live with the consequences of those experiences, and the State’s responses to past abuses have not always met survivors’ expectations. In addition, more recent cases that have come to light to remind us that institutional abuse is not simply a historical issue.
There are still serious concerns about safeguarding, accountability and oversight in many services today.
In response to that continuing reality, we in IHREC have repeatedly called for a systemic shift in the State’s attitude and responsibility toward survivors of State wrongdoing:
a shift of approach centred around deinstitutionalisation, strengthened oversight (including access to justice and to complaints processes), and a focus on investment in the staff working with people with disability.
Moving Away from Institutions
The FRA report is very clear that institutional environments can create conditions where abuse and neglect are more likely to occur. The report sets out how institutions in which disabled people reside share common characteristics:
they segregate people from their local community, deprive them of their liberties and allow little interaction with the outside world.
For this reason, the CRPD explicitly recognises institutionalisation as a form of violence; amounting to a prohibited form of discrimination, which can lead to various abuses and infringes upon the fundamental rights of persons with disabilities.
It is clear that deinstitutionalisation is the most effective legal safeguard and practical solution to address violations of the rights of disabled people living in institutions. It ensures their right to liberty, autonomy and community inclusion in line with the UNCRPD.
So, we in IHREC continue to call for a full and proper State commitment to deinstitutionalisation through effective legislative reform, policy and resourcing, thereby strengthening efforts to realise the right of persons with disabilities to live independently and be included in the community consistent with the UNCRPD.
That means investment in personal assistance, in independent living supports, and in flexible services that follow the person rather than confining them to a particular setting. We acknowledge that this will take time, a steady commitment and careful planning and cannot happen overnight.
Monitoring, Complaints and Access to Justice
At the moment, oversight of care settings can be fragmented. Different bodies have different roles, different standards, and sometimes inadequate resources.
This can lead to a situation where problems are only identified after serious harm has already occurred. What we need instead is a system of regular, independent and preventative monitoring that is bolstered by better collaboration between institutions and external oversight.
Equally important is ensuring that complaints mechanisms are accessible. People must be able to report concerns safely and easily, and they must be supported to do so.
Independent advocacy is a critical part of that.
We can also not overstate how much people need real access to justice when abuse occurs, because, too often, people with disabilities face barriers when trying to report abuse or participate in legal processes. Access to justice for people with disability is one of IHREC's strategic priority as IMM, and we published a detailed research report on barriers experienced in December 2024.
These barriers can include communication barriers, lack of accessible information, or lack of appropriate supports during investigations and court proceedings.
We must ensure that people have access to advocacy, legal representation, and the communication supports they need to participate meaningfully.
Staffing and Culture
It’s important to understand that many of the issues identified in the FRA report are connected to the conditions in which staff are working. Understaffing, low pay, and insufficient training can create environments where harmful practices become normalised.
The people that work in institutional like those we are concerned with today must be acknowledged for their commitment and goodwill. Indeed, the commitment of everyone present in room today to ending and preventing violence and harm must also be acknowledged and commended.
Investing in the workforce, through proper training, fair pay, and better working conditions, is essential. But beyond that, we also need a broader cultural shift within services: a shift toward autonomy, dignity and respect for the rights of people with disabilities.
What Government Should Do Now
Therefore, in response to the report’s findings, I wrote the Minister of State with responsibility for disability, Emer Higgins, in January, and asked her to carefully consider the report and its recommendations.
A comprehensive review of existing legislation and public policy in this area is required, with the active participation of disabled people and Disabled Persons Organisations, focused on consolidating and aligning the fragmented legal frameworks with the UNCRPD.
Keeping Survivors at the Centre
Because most importantly, the voices of survivors, service users and residents of institutional settings must be at the centre of reform.
People who have experienced institutional abuse understand what the system failures mean better than anyone. People who access or live in disability services or mental health establishments know better than anyone the importance of supports to live as part of their communities in safety and dignity.
Their experiences must inform how we design policy, how we investigate wrongdoing, and how we invest in and build better services for the future.
A Shared Responsibility
Everyone in this room has a role to play. Whether you are working in government, regulation, service provision, advocacy or research, addressing these issues requires collaboration.
We need to work together to build systems that protect human rights and promote dignity. That means sharing knowledge, identifying solutions, and being willing to challenge practices that are no longer acceptable.
Conclusion
So let me finish with this. The FRA report holds up a mirror and shows us clearly where risks exist, where harm is occurring, and where change is needed, but it also gives us an opportunity to ensure that places of care truly are places of safety.
To take that opportunity we must strengthen protections, improve services, and ensure that people with disabilities can live with dignity, autonomy and respect.
Today’s discussion is an important part of that process.
I’m very much looking forward to hearing your perspectives and ideas, and to working together to move this agenda forward.
Thank you.