Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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The safety and protection of vulnerable people in the care of the State is paramount. As the Deputy will be aware, a number of important steps have been taken in recent years to strengthen the protection afforded to vulnerable and adults in the States’s day care and residential care settings.

Within the health sector specifically, the HSE published its national safeguarding policy and procedures, Safeguarding Vulnerable People at Risk of Abuse,in December 2014. This safeguarding policy was the first such HSE policy to encompass both elder abuse and concerns of abuse relating to people availing of disability services. A number of important steps have been taken to progress implementation of this policy, including the establishment by the HSE of a National Safeguarding Office, and the establishment of Safeguarding and Protection Teams in each of the Executive’s CHO areas. In addition, a National Safeguarding Committee was formally established in December 2015. The Committee has multi-agency and inter-sectoral representation. One of its strategic objectives is the initiation of conversations with Government and Oireachtas Committees on the development of legislation on adult safeguarding. The work to date of the National Safeguarding Committee has confirmed that the scope of the issues around the safeguarding of vulnerable adults goes far beyond the area of health.

A detailed review of the operation of the HSE’s safeguarding policy to date is at an advanced stage and is expected to be completed by early 2018. The review includes research and analysis of legislative and procedural approaches to safeguarding vulnerable adults in other jurisdictions. The findings of the HSE’s safeguarding review, when completed, will be of particular value in informing the development of appropriate policy approaches and the preparation of such legislation as may be required in the context of developing a national safeguarding policy framework for the health sector.

I fully support the principle of providing a legislative basis for the safeguarding of vulnerable adults. My Department is also exploring the development of an appropriate request to the Law Reform Commission to assist with legal research regarding the current safeguarding landscape and the legal gaps that may exist.

As you are aware, at the recent meetings of the Joint Committee on Health, the issue of adult safeguarding was extensively discussed. The Department outlined its intention, subject to Government approval, to develop a comprehensive health policy on safeguarding adults at risk and associated legislation. The HSE review of it's safeguarding policy and other research, including consultation with other Departments, key stakeholders and the public, will help to inform the scope and content of a health sector policy and legislation, including the role, functions and powers of any authority and its officers that may have a part to play in safeguarding.

The development of a health policy and legislation is a complex undertaking and will take time, however, I am hopeful that preliminary proposals on a high level approach can be brought to Government this year.