The HSE says it’s not aware of any reports which indicate inappropriate medication was used at a Killarney residential care centre.
Senator Tom Clonan says an urgent investigation is needed into the care of residents with intellectual disabilities who lived at Cluain Fhionnáin.
The HSE facility was home to people who needed support of mental health services and disability services, between 2001 and 2019.
Senator Clonan told the Seanad last week about the findings of an unpublished report by the Health Information and Quality Authority into disability services at Cluain Fhionnáin in December 2017.
He said this included the practice of chemical castration, to inappropriately sedate residents with disabilities at the care centre.
The HSE has told Radio Kerry that medication to reduce aggression and manage behaviour are only prescribed if all other strategies have been tried and failed.
The HSE says it is not aware of any report by HIQA, published or unpublished, which states this was not the case at Cluain Fhionnáin.
It says it takes any allegation of inappropriate prescribing of medication very seriously, and anyone with information demonstrating this did not take place should contact the HSE.
The HSE added HIQA published several reports about Cluain Fhionnáin ahead of its closure in May 2019, that HIQA’s concerns about the centre were well-documented and fully accepted by the HSE.
It says it agreed the service was no longer fit for purpose, and considerable work was undertaken to close the service and provide new, appropriate homes in the community for residents.
The HSE adds at the time HIQA inspected the facility in 2017, after which Senator Clonan claims the report was written, it was preparing to close the facility and was in the process of moving residents out.
