Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)

I thank all Senators who have contributed to this debate on the final substantive report of the Farrelly commission. There has been a wide range of speakers. I am appreciative of their input.

It must be emphasised that the commission of investigation is an independent statutory commission empowered to investigate matters of significant public concern, possessing robust investigative powers and, by design and by law, exercising its functions and powers entirely independently of Government, the Minister and the Department. This is as it should be and as this Chamber would wish. The essence of an inquiry is that it should not be subject to political interference. I know that would be a key wish of this Chamber. The commission was facilitated with a final short technical extension to 23 May 2025 to ensure outstanding matters regarding legal costs and archiving were completed and for submission of the final report of the commission on costs. I received the costs report on 22 May. This is the final report of the commission of investigation and, pursuant to section 43 of the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004, the commission is now dissolved. The report was referred to the Office of the Attorney General for consideration and confirmation that there is no impediment to publication. The commission of investigation has also deposited its archive with the Department.

Given the length of the commission's tenure, there has been dual responsibility for it. The Department of Health was responsible from the commission's establishment in 2017 up to 1 March 2023. At that point, the functions vested in the Minister for Health with respect to the commission transferred to the then Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. Officials are reviewing the costs involved and it is the intention to publish the report on costs shortly.

It is never possible to say with 100% certainty that a safeguarding issue cannot occur in any setting in the future. However, there has been a marked change in the way we as a country operate in respect of child safeguarding, both in the way vulnerable children are looked after when in the care of the State and in the manner in which vulnerable adults with disabilities are cared for and the range of services available to them. For vulnerable children in the care of the State, safeguarding has become a priority, from both a legislative and a policy perspective. Significant steps have been taken, from the development of foster care standards to the creation of the Ombudsman for Children's Office and HIQA, the establishment of Tusla and the commencement of the Children First Act. These steps represent a significant shift in the way we treat children who require the care of the State, have a right to be protected by the State and rely on us to do so.

A number of advances have been developed in adult safeguarding, including the establishment of HIQA, which inspects residential services and centre-based respite services. The development of a HSE adult safeguarding policy in 2014, which covers all services and settings, was an important development. A national safeguarding office was established in 2015. Safeguarding protection teams across all CHOs were introduced to provide a community safeguarding response, as well as quality assurance, oversight and advisory support to the HSE and funded service providers on safeguarding matters. The HSE published an independent review of its policies and procedures, the McIlroy report, in 2024. This has led to the introduction of a chief social worker in the HSE to drive the implementations of the recommendations in the report. Strong progress has been made on mandatory reporting of all suspected abuse of children, be it physical, sexual, emotional or neglect.

I recognise many Members of this House and organisations representing people with disabilities have raised the requirement for robust adult safeguarding legislation. I am supportive of the development of this legislation. It is in the remit of the Department of Health and that Department is developing a new policy on adult safeguarding in health and social care settings to cover the full spectrum of healthcare and social care services - public, voluntary and private.This new policy on adult safeguarding is being developed and, I understand from the Department of Health, will be brought before the Government in the coming months. The preparation of related underpinning legislation will commence immediately thereafter.

The commencement of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 on 26 April 2023 enhanced protections and safeguards around decision-making for vulnerable adults lacking capacity. The Law Reform Commission's report, A Regulatory Framework for Adult Safeguarding, across all sectors, was published in 2024 and was accompanied by draft legislation in the form of a civil adult safeguarding Bill and a criminal justice adult safeguarding Bill. The report sets out a range of recommendations for future Government consideration in regard to adult safeguarding.

The national independent review panel executive summary on the Brandon report outlined a number of recommendations relating to service provision, including the establishment of the strategic working group tasked with the development of a new vision for disability services in the area. A high-level report outlining the strategic working group's work to date in providing an independent and objective assessment of the safeguarding structures and processes in place in disability services was requested from the independent chair, Colm Lehane, in 2024. I expect to receive a report on this matter in the coming weeks.

Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility. The onus on us as a Government is to ensure that we work collaboratively across all Departments, the HSE, Tusla, all State agencies and the wider community to support and embed a culture that recognises every person's right to respect, dignity, honesty and compassion in every aspect of his or her life. As Members know, I expressed my intention to undertake an expert-driven, non-statutory safeguarding exercise, which will identify learnings from the commission's findings to inform present-day safeguarding policies and practices. Significant work has been undertaken by officials in my Department seeking to identify an appropriate expert in the field of safeguarding to carry out this exercise. The procurement process for the selection of this specialist safeguarding expertise is under way and will be completed within a number of weeks. The seven people referenced in the commission's statement on part X, and-or their representatives, will be invited to participate in this exercise to share their lived experience, if they wish to do so. This exercise will be fully independent of the Government. I expect to be in a position to notify the House shortly when a safeguarding expert has been appointed to carry out this body of work.