John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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599. To ask the Minister for Health to provide a timeline for when she intends to introduce comprehensive adult safeguarding legislation, including a statutory regulatory framework for the protection of vulnerable adults in all care settings, as proposed in the Law Reform Commission’s 2024 Report on Adult Safeguarding and reflected in the draft Adult Safeguarding Bill 2024 and Criminal Law (Adult Safeguarding) Bill 2024; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26822/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Safeguarding adults who may be at risk of abuse is a key objective of my Department, every statutory body under its aegis and every relevant service that interacts with such adults.

The Programme for Government 2025 ‘Securing Ireland’s Future’ includes a commitment to publish a national policy on adult safeguarding for the health and social care sector. My Department, in liaison with the Department of Children, Disability and Equality, is at an advanced stage of finalising this policy to further strengthen the existing protections in the sector.

To facilitate the development of appropriate legislation to underpin this sectoral policy, subject to its approval by the Government, the Government has included a Health (Adult Safeguarding) Bill in its current Legislation Programme. It is expected that these sectoral policy proposals will be brought before Government in the coming months, and that the preparation of related underpinning legislation will commence thereafter.

As the Deputy has referenced, the independent Law Reform Commission published a Report on ‘A Regulatory Framework for Adult Safeguarding’ in April 2024, together with a draft civil Bill and draft criminal law Bill. The Commission’s Report set out comprehensive and wide-ranging recommendations that have relevance across a range of Government Departments, including, but not exclusive to, the Department of Health. The Commission’s recommendations, where relevant, are informing the development of the aforementioned national policy on adult safeguarding for the health and social care sector.

As part of its report, the Law Reform Commission recommended the establishment of a statutory Safeguarding Body with a cross-sectoral remit. The Programme for Government includes a commitment relating to all sectors to explore the establishment of a National Safeguarding Body to ensure the health, safety and welfare of vulnerable adults. I anticipate that this Programme for Government commitment will be carefully considered by all relevant Departments in relation to their respective functions.