Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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397. To ask the Minister for Health the proposed best protection for vulnerable groups, including the elderly, within the public health sphere to ensure their protection to the best possible standard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18859/23]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The Health Service Executive (HSE) and the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) regularly publish public health advice for older people and other service users on how to stay well and be protected, including publications on keeping well in winter and on vaccination, which are available online on HSE’s and HPSC's websites at the following web addresses:

• www2.hse.ie/living-well/winter/how-to-stay-well-in-winter/.
• www2.hse.ie/living-well/winter/advice-patients-with-chronic-conditions/.
• www2.hse.ie/conditions/flu/getting-the-vaccine/.
• www.hpsc.ie/publications/.

• the application within the health sector of relevant cross-sectoral legislation, for example in relation to reporting certain offences against children or vulnerable persons to An Garda Síochána, vetting, equal status and assisted decision-making;
• the significant regulatory powers of HIQA and the Mental Health Commission in relation to the quality and safety of healthcare and social care provision generally (under the Health Act 2007 and the Mental Health Acts);
• joint national adult safeguarding standards developed by HIQA and the Mental Health Commission, approved by the Minister for Health.
• the roles of health and social care professional regulatory bodies in relation to, for example, professional registration requirements and professional codes of conduct.
• a range of operational structures and procedures, including in particular the HSE’s national operational adult safeguarding policy Safeguarding Vulnerable People at Risk of Abuse – Policy and Procedures (2014).

My Department remains committed to ensuring that the best possible safeguards are in place to protect any of our service users who may be at risk, and significant work is ongoing to develop health sector adult safeguarding policy and legislation, building on the robust structures already in place. Work is also ongoing on the drafting of legislation to enhance the oversight and regulation of nursing homes, which will include provision for a broader suite of enforcement tools for the Chief Inspector of Social Services.