Today, the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has published 12 reports on inspections of designated centres for people with disabilities operated by Camphill Communities of Ireland.

Following receipt of a large volume of information of concern pertaining to residents’ care and support and the overarching governance of the organisation, HIQA’s Chief Inspector of Social Services conducted a targeted inspection programme in all 12 centres operated by this registered provider throughout June and July 2025.

HIQA’s targeted programme found substantive deficits in key areas of governance and management, staffing, safeguarding and risk management across a number of the centres. This was found to be negatively impacting upon residents living in these centres.

These findings presented a significant concern to HIQA’s Chief Inspector of Social Services, as Camphill Communities of Ireland had previously been subject to two escalated regulatory programmes resulting in cancellation of the provider’s registration to operate two centres in Kilkenny (2017) and Wexford (2021).

The June and July 2025 inspections identified particular concerns in four designated centres – Dunshane (Kildare), Grangebeg (Kildare), Dingle (Kerry) & Kyle (Kilkenny) in terms of poor quality and safe care delivery to residents which was underpinned by significant gaps in the provider’s governance and oversight. Today, HIQA has also published a follow-up inspection at Camphill Communities Kyle from September 2025, undertaken to ensure immediate measures had been put in place to improve the safety and quality of care for residents.

As a result of these findings, the Chief Inspector has taken a range of escalated actions, as defined by the Health Act 2007 (as amended), to further ensure improvements across this organisation for residents, including issuing a formal warning for one designated centre and issuing proposed cancellation of registration in the case of three designated centres. The Chief Inspector continues to have concerns regarding the registered provider’s ability to demonstrate consistent and effective governance nationally and implement national improvement planning at a local designated-centre level.

HIQA’s Interim Deputy Chief Inspector with responsibility for disability services, Ciara McShane, commented: “All services should deliver safe, effective and appropriate care and support for residents. We have conducted further inspections of centres operated by this provider to ensure improvements are made and sustained for residents, and we will publish reports on those inspections in due course. HIQA’s Chief Inspector will continue to use its powers to drive improvements in services for residents.”

Ends.

Notes to Editor:

• HIQA inspects designated centres for people with disabilities against the Health Act 2007 (Care and Support of Residents in Designated Centres for Persons (Children and Adults) with Disabilities) Regulations 2013 and the National Standards for Residential Services for Children and Adults with Disabilities.
• Regulation is comprised of a number of key activities, including:
  • registering designated centres
  • inspecting and reporting on the quality and safety of the services
  • ongoing monitoring of compliance in services
  • meeting and engaging with people who avail of the service to hear their experiences
  • receiving, analysing and risk-assessing information from a range of sources to inform our regulation activity.
• Where there is persistent non-compliance with the regulations or where there is risk to residents’ safety, HIQA’s Chief Inspector takes the necessary enforcement or escalation steps which may include attaching restrictive conditions to a centre’s registration, such as stopping new admissions to the centre until improvements are made, or in some cases cancelling the registration of a designated centre. A provider may decide to challenge a HIQA decision to cancel their registration in the District Court.
• HIQA’s targeted programme focused on inspections in the following centres operated by Camphill Communities of Ireland:

• An inspection report from 30 June 2025 on Camphill Community Ballybay was previously published and is available here.