Today, the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has published 24 inspection reports on designated centres for people with disabilities. 

Inspection reports have been published on centres operated by: Avista CLG; Camphill Communities of Ireland; Corlann; Enable Ireland Disability Services Limited; GALRO Unlimited Company; Health Service Executive (HSE); L’Arche Ireland; Lotus Care Limited; MooreHaven Centre (Tipperary) Designated Activity Company; Muiríosa Foundation; Nua Healthcare Services Limited; and Praxis Care.

Inspectors found good practice in the majority of centres inspected, including:

• A centre in Galway operated by Corlann had implemented a human-rights based approach to care. Residents were well integrated within the local community and some accessed the community independently. Staff described community members checking in with residents at times.  
• During an inspection of a HSE-operated centre in Donegal, residents had recently been on a holiday to a camping village. Staff told inspectors how residents were supported before the holiday through various means including the use of social stories, objects of reference and doing a visual countdown of the days. This was the first time some residents had gone on an overnight holiday since they started living in residential care. The holiday was a great success and that residents appeared to really enjoy it. 
• Residents at a centre in Laois operated by Nua Healthcare Services Limited were supported to remain active and each had their own routine weekly whether attending education centres, working a part-time job, or accessing access other facilities within the locality. One resident had recently joined Special Olympics and attended this weekly. Others liked to play tennis, had meals out, or had regular take-away nights together. 
• Following a wider programme of inspections across designated centres operated by Camphill Communities of Ireland in 2025, this inspection of a centre operated by the provider in Kildare found that governance and management arrangements had strengthened since the previous inspection. 
   

Some centres were required to make improvements to enable the best possible outcomes for residents. Providers of these centres submitted compliance plans outlining the changes they will make following the inspection. These included:

• In two centres operated by Lotus Care, governance and management, while improved since the previous inspection, required further strengthening to ensure that a good quality and safe service was provided to all children on a consistent basis.
• A risk-based unannounced inspection was undertaken in a centre operated by Praxis Care following the receipt of information to HIQA and it was found that improvements were required to the measures in place to protect and maintain residents' quality of life due to the behaviour of other residents.
• An inspection of a centre operated by Nua Healthcare Services Limited identified that staffing arrangements required immediate review to keep residents safe. The provider responded immediately, and prior to the end of the inspection a full staff team was present in the centre.

Editor’s notes: 

• HIQA inspects 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, which apply to residential services for people with disabilities in Ireland.