Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the Seanad and congratulate him on his recent appointment. I look forward to working with him across his important brief in the coming term. I am grateful to the Fine Gael Senators for bringing forward this important and timely motion on care, supports and the enhanced provision of services for older people. It is certainly an area in urgent need of political will, resources and funding by the Government. I welcome the commitments relating to older people in the recently published programme for Government which are reproduced in the motion before us. There is no doubt about the clear need for a statutory home care scheme and dementia supports and to secure the future of the nursing home sector.

I am concerned in particular about the workers in the sector, particularly regarding low salaries, precarious conditions, access to pensions and limited pathways to further career progression. I therefore ask that this form a central part of our conversation on reforms moving forward, especially to avert any potential industrial action by workers in our care homes. Ireland’s population is ageing fast. The Central Statistics Office predicts that almost one in four people will be over the age of 65 by 2050. In 25 years, we want older people in Ireland to be able to live happy, healthy and active lives. The time to prepare for that is now. We all know that the quality of the care received by elderly people, and particularly the vulnerable in need of specific care and supports, articulates the values and principles of the society in which we live. By this measure, the State is not meeting its responsibilities.There are many heartbreaking personal testimonies of the State's failure to safeguard the rights of elderly people, which is a major cause of concern. It is important that we act now to get the supports, the services and, crucially, legal protective frameworks in place as we prepare for the future.

The Law Reform Commission has identified the area of adult safeguarding - keeping adults and, particularly, older adults in the State’s care safe from harm - as one in which Ireland is glaringly lacking a unified and cross-sectoral approach. In the major report from last year, the Law Reform Commission stated that reform of this area must “entail comprehensive, cross-sectoral legislation which assigns responsibility for regulation and oversight to appropriate bodies, and provides powers, duties and obligations for those who interact with adults, who may be at-risk adults, across different settings.” The call for a major legislative overhaul has been echoed by civil society, patient advocates, organisations representing older people, and elderly people themselves. It is clear that a unified and comprehensive approach is needed and that legislation must be brought forward to implement that.

In 2017, my Civil Engagement Group colleagues and I introduced and progressed the Adult Safeguarding Bill. The Bill, for the first time, proposed a particular regulatory framework for adult safeguarding that was rights based while also proposing additional protections and supports for adults who may be at risk of exploitation or abuse and were unable to protect themselves. I am delighted that the Law Reform Commission saw fit to include the issue of adult safeguarding in its fifth programme of law reform. This was on foot of a hearing at the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health in October 2017 and followed the passage of the Bill to Second Stage in the Seanad earlier that year. The cross-party consensus from politicians, legal experts, civil society and advocates on the need for this change is, therefore, crystal clear. What is the status of these proposals in his Department is? I would be grateful if the Minister of State could provide an update in his reply.

In April 2024, the Law Reform Commission published the draft adult safeguarding Bill 2024 and the criminal law (adult safeguarding) Bill 2024. As the Minister of State knows, the LRC has statutory responsibility for identifying gaps in legislation and recommending change. When the LRC publishes a suite of legislative initiatives totalling almost 200 pages, there is a clear responsibility on the Government to respond. It is a concern that adult safeguarding receives no mention in the motion or in the programme for Government.

In addition to legal change, the LRC has made several important recommendations. It has called for safeguarding duties to be legally imposed on the providers of certain services, the establishment of a social work-led adult safeguarding body, a statutory duty to report harm, statutory powers to receive reports of harm of at-risk adults, and the extension of barring and safety orders under the Domestic Violence Act 2018 to address domestic abuse against at-risk adults.

A large body of expert legal policy and political work has been delivered at the Minister of State's door as he assumes this role and I have no doubt that he has a mountain of work ahead of him, but the House has already agreed unanimously that this issue is critical and must be addressed. I would be grateful if he could update the House with his plans in this area. Older people across Ireland today and in future deserve a protective legal framework that respects, protects and fulfils their rights to safety, security, and happiness.