The HSE has insisted that the standards of care shown towards people with intellectual disabilities at a care home in Mayo ‘should not and will not be tolerated'.

It was responding to the airing of an episode of RTE's Prime Time on Tuesday (December 9), which showed residents in one unit of the Áras Attracta centre in Swinford being physically abused, shouted at, force-fed and humiliated.

The centre is a residential respite and day service for adults with intellectual disabilities, which is managed by the HSE. The programme, Inside Bungalow Three, focused on unit three of the centre.

The HSE described the attitudes and behaviour of some staff as ‘totally unacceptable' and it apologised unreservedly to the residents concerned and their families ‘for any distress experienced at any time in relation to poor standards of care provided to them in Unit 3'.

It noted that the centre had been the subject of a recent Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) investigation and report, and that all of the recommendations made by HIQA had been implemented and the facility had received ‘positive reports from the regulator on subsequent unannounced visits'.

It said that once it became aware of these serious allegations, the personnel involved were ‘put off duty', the Gardai and HIQA were notified and an independent chairman was appointed to conduct a ‘full and thorough investigation into the matter'.

The nine members of staff involved are now subject to a disciplinary process.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Primary and Social Care, Kathleen Lynch, described the Prime Time programme as ‘very disturbing' and said she was ‘shocked and distressed' by the revelations of mistreatment.

One of the experts who featured in the Prime Time programme, Prof Owen Barr, who is head of the School of Nursing at the University of Ulster, insisted that the actions of some members of staff can be considered assault.

"Striking an individual with intellectual disabilities, indeed striking anyone, is assault and in those circumstances entirely unwarranted. There's no threat, there's no risk," he insisted.

Meanwhile the Special Needs Parents Association described the behaviour of staff as a scandal, while the Disability Federation of Ireland said it was shocked and ‘gravely concerned'.

Inside Bungalow Three can be viewed on RTÉ Player for the next 21 days. Click here