The Chairman of the Group which carried out the independent review of Áras Attracta has said the systems in the centre "were geared up to make the running of the institution easier".
Dr Kevin McCoy said the model of care provided at the centre for adults with intellectual disabilities was "wrong".
The report of the Áras Attracta Swinford Review Group was commissioned by the Health Service Executive to review the quality of care provided at the complex in Swinford, Co Mayo.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Sean O'Rourke, Dr McCoy said residents were "very dependent on the systems that were in place" and had "insufficient opportunities to develop their own potential and to realise the opportunities for living a very full and active life in as far as that was possible".
He said in many ways "their voices were not heard".
Dr McCoy said while "many of them do have communication difficulties, others simply have got to the point where nobody asked them what they wanted and therefore they didn't voice any opinions as to what they felt they would need".
He said there was "inadequate protection for residents" in the sense that residents "really didn't know what constituted abusive behaviour and really did not know in an adequate way how to make complaints and how to have their concerns addressed".
"Sometimes they got up in the morning, got dressed, have their breakfast and there was very little else to do."
He said the facility became "isolated" and "it didn't really take on board current thinking in relation to supporting people with intellectual disabilities in the community".
He added that it "simply fell into this pattern of a low approach to care".
In his foreword to the report, Dr McCoy says the HSE commissioned the review following RTÉ's screening in December 2014 of an undercover investigation of conditions inside Bungalow Three on the Áras campus.
He said the investigation left "a lasting and indelible impression on anyone who viewed it" and which "quite rightly led to a public outcry".
The HSE has welcomed the findings of the report and said as well as already improving services in Áras Attracta, the ongoing focus is to implement changes required there to ensure the safety and well-being of all residents and to ensure that they, and their families, are consulted with, and involved in, the transition to a community based model of living and support.
The HSE said that by the end of 2015, as referenced in the report, more than 60% of all the recommendations in the reviews conducted at the centre since 2014 had been implemented, and further progress is being made during 2016.
Significant further improvements are under way in Áras Attracta in line with its agreed vision, the HSE said.
HSE National Director, Social Care Pat Healy apologised unreservedly to the residents and their families for the way they were treated.
He said the reports supports the executive's "vision for Aras Attracta, and for other residential disability services nationally, which is to move to community living, supporting people with disabilities to live lives of their choosing, to decide where they live, who they live with and how they spend their time."
Age Action welcomed the recommendations in the report, particularly the call for a greater emphasis on listening to the wishes of the residents and ensuring they know their rights and have access to advocacy services.
In a statement, Head of Advocacy and Communications Justin Moran said the RTÉ investigation had "shocked the nation", but if anything positive can come out of the review is that the HSE will ensure that the scenes broadcast are never repeated.
