Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I support the Debenhams workers on day 222 of their campaign and I will be proud to stand with them outside the Dáil later.

I raise the issue of the report that the HSE national safeguarding office published last week, which makes for grim reading. As we all know, adults are at risk of different types of abuse or neglect in their family homes and residential settings around the country. Many such adults are older or dependent and may have disabilities or mental health issues. There has been no targeted national messaging campaign throughout the Covid period regarding these vulnerable people.

I will provide some figures from the report, particularly in relation to CHO 7, which contains my county and constituency. The 2019 annual report highlights a serious backlog and failure to respond to preliminary screenings. For example, in 2019, 1,000 preliminary screenings were submitted which have received absolutely no response.That figure doubled from 438 the year before. If that trend continues, it means 2,000 preliminary screenings could have received absolutely no response in 2020.

This is appalling and essentially means there has been no clinical oversight of safeguarding within those reporting organisations. There is major concern about this, which I share. There is a lack of understanding and an appropriate response to people who are vulnerable to harm and abuse. I call on the Deputy Leader to ask the Minister for Health to come to the House for a debate on this issue.