Dr. Sarah Donnelly:

On coercive control, I agree with the comments Ms Rickard-Clarke made. However, I add that it is a complex area of practice. Often the older person or person being coercively controlled wants the abuser harm to stop but for the relationship to continue. It can often take months or years of intensive relationship-based practice to build trust with the person and bring them to a place where they feel safe taking action against the coercive control. We need legislation as a deterrent to be able to proceed with prosecution if that is the person's will and preference, but we also need the resources for social workers, public health nurses and others who are supporting older people in the community to build a relationship where they feel safe to take action.

Prevention was the other main area the Senator raised. We have covered come of it in the need for a social care legislative framework, similar to that in the UK. We need increased supports for family caregivers. Within the UK Care Act there is a requirement to assess the person for their need for care and support, but also the family caregiver. Given the amount of care family carers are providing, that dual approach is absolutely needed. This is something Safeguarding Ireland talked about. We have a very fragmented health and social care system with respect to adult safeguarding. We could have a one-stop shop or even a helpline people could easily ring where they could access one contact point. It can be an absolute nightmare, even as a social worker in practice, to try to orientate who we should contact about a particular circumstance. That is one thing that would help significantly. Also, routinely having safeguarding competencies in job descriptions for staff would be a significant improvement and, as we said earlier, greater enforcement and monitoring of the 2012 Act would significantly help, as would the cessation of senior HSE managers with no safeguarding or clinical experience making significant decisions in safeguarding cases.

I do not know if my colleagues want to add anything.