Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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2707. To ask the Minister for Health the role of the Chief Social Worker of the HSE; how this role interacts with both the National Safeguarding Office and the six regional safeguarding and protection teams; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41626/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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2708. To ask the Minister for Health the chain of reporting and the lines of accountability for the management of safeguarding services within the HSE, both regionally and nationally; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41627/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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2709. To ask the Minister for Health the legal and financial expertise available to support each of the six safeguarding and protection teams; the resources available to the person with overall responsibility for safeguarding within the HSE; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41628/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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2710. To ask the Minister for Health if she will engage with the relevant education and training institutions to ensure that the level of training for social workers is sufficient to allow them to provide adult safeguarding services to a suitable standard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41629/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Department of Health officials engage on an ongoing basis with colleagues in the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS) and other relevant stakeholders to ensure that we train enough graduates with the skills necessary to support the delivery of health and social care services and to develop a strategic approach to workforce planning for the health sector.

On 11th June 2025 the Government approved a significant expansion in training places for Health and Social Care Professions (HSCPs), a move that will see up to 320 additional student places created in 2025 and a further 141 in subsequent years, in disciplines critical to disability, health, and education services. This immediate expansion will be in nine key HSCP areas: Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Radiation Therapy, Radiography, Podiatry, Social Work, Medical Science, and Dietetics.

The Social Workers Registration Board (SWRB), which operates under the Health and Social Care Professionals Council (CORU), is the independent statutory body responsible for setting the standards for education and training, registration, and professional conduct for social workers in Ireland.

The Standards of Proficiency for Social Workers, developed by the SWRB, clearly articulate the threshold knowledge, skills, and professional attributes required of all entrants to the Social Workers Register. These standards ensure that graduates are equipped to practise safely and effectively, including in the area of adult safeguarding. The standards are outcomes-based, focusing on what a student must know and be able to do upon completion of an approved programme, rather than prescribing how curricula should be delivered. This allows education providers the flexibility to design curricula that best meet these outcomes while remaining responsive to evolving practice needs.

A number of the Standards of Proficiency directly relate to the competencies needed to deliver effective adult safeguarding services. These include, but are not limited to:

• The ability to practise safely and ethically within legal and professional boundaries (Standard 1.1);
• Acting in the best interest of service users while respecting their autonomy and rights (Standards 1.3, 1.5, 1.6);
• Understanding the limits of confidentiality in the context of child protection, vulnerable adults and elder abuse (Standard 1.13);
• Awareness of legislation relevant to informed consent and capacity (Standard 1.17);
• Recognition of the role of advocacy and service user participation (Standards 2.3 and 5.15);
• A critical understanding of the legislative basis for social work actions and the influence of national policy and inquiry findings on practice (Standards 5.8 and 5.9).