Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I draw attention to the horrific abuse of adults with intellectual disabilities that occurred at the Ard Gréine Court facility, Donegal. On Friday last, The Irish Timesran another piece on the issue after it finally received a copy of the unpublished report into the matter, the Brandon report. We now know that approximately 108 incidents of devastating abuse were experienced by at least 18 residents of this facility, many of them non-verbal, over a period of about 13 years. It is shocking. The HSE management had full knowledge of this abuse, yet refused to supply the Minister for Health with a report on the abuse when it was requested. One of the most shocking aspects of this revelation is that none of the family members of those who had experienced the abuse were informed until December 2018. In some cases, this was more than a decade after the abuse had occurred.

The Brandon report is just one example of the horrendous abuse and neglect of adults at risk in Ireland that has been revealed in recent months. Sexual abuse is not the only issue. "RTÉ Investigates: Care in Covid" highlighted that the neglect of adults in nursing homes during the pandemic violated their dignity and contributed to deaths. This all comes under the umbrella of adult safeguarding. We are in desperate need of adult safeguarding legislation that will enforce the mandatory reporting of abuse in order that those who hide or cover up abuse will become legally culpable for it. We are also in need of an adult safeguarding body to monitor adult safeguarding, with powers to investigate abuse.

In 2017, the then Senator Colette Kelleher of the Civil Engagement Group introduced the Adult Safeguarding Bill in the Seanad and mandatory reporting was at its core. There was positive engagement on the Bill from many in the House and we in the Civil Engagement Group welcomed the cross-party support we received. I again raise this issue, however, to emphasise the urgency regarding adult safeguarding. I worry the Government does not share my sense of urgency. Since Colette's Bill was referred to the Law Reform Commission, no significant progress has been made to protect adults at risk. It is shocking. The commission's report is not due until next year. No interim steps have been taken to protect adults at risk of abuse.

I call on the Government to take action on this immediately and to request an interim report from the Law Reform Commission. We simply cannot afford to wait until next year. The HSE management that covered up the abuse in Donegal was repeatedly advised that what it was doing would be seen as complicity in the abuse. We in this Legislature are now at the point where we too are guilty of complicity in this abuse. Again and again, we have received shocking reports of the abuse of adults at risk occurring throughout this island and still we have not taken any concrete legislative steps towards stopping it. I hope other Senators share my sense of urgency regarding the issue. We must end our complicity in the pain and suffering of so many people. If we can save one life, will it not be worth it?