Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy for his ongoing work on this.

Safeguarding adults who may be at risk of abuse is a very important objective for me, my Department and all health and social care services. A framework of standards, policies and procedures for safeguarding adults in the health and social care sector is already in place. This includes a national safeguarding office in the HSE, specialist safeguarding and protection teams in each health region, designated safeguarding officers within services and specific regulatory requirements for residential care services which are inspected by HIQA and the Mental Health Commission. Further measures are now being developed to strengthen that framework.

My Department is at an advanced stage of finalising a national policy on adult safeguarding for the sector, in liaison with the Department of Children, Disability and Equality. This will be the first national policy in this area and is a significant development. Considerable work has already been undertaken to inform this policy, including an international evidence review, stakeholder engagement and a public consultation last year, which received more than 250 responses. I hope to bring this policy to the Government in the coming months.

Second, the Government has included a health (adult safeguarding) Bill in its current legislation programme. This will facilitate underpinning legislation for this sectoral policy. Drafting of this legislation will commence once the policy is finalised. There is a pressing need for robust safeguarding frameworks. That was thrown into sharp focus for all of us again with the recent publication of the Farrelly commission’s report on the Grace case. I am mindful too of other safeguarding failures that we must work hard to ensure never happen again, including the recent Brandon and Emily cases. I assure the Deputy that this is a priority for me. I expect to see progress within my Department and on a cross-departmental basis this year. I expect to be able to update the Deputy in that way.

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