Tougher measures to protect vulnerable adults
The Government has approved the development of legislation to support a national policy framework for adult safeguarding in the health and social-care sector.
‘Safeguarding’ describes measures to promote and protect the safety, health, wellbeing, and human rights of vulnerable or at-risk adults.
The , published today (9 December), sets out the key elements that will be included in the proposed legislation.
These include:
- A range of legal duties on health and social-care service providers to put proactive measures in place to prevent abuse – including risk evaluations and staff training,
- A duty on health and social-care service providers and State agencies to co-operate and share information for safeguarding purposes,
- Sector-wide statutory safeguarding functions and duties for the HSE to provide it with responsibility for leading and co-ordinating adult safeguarding across the sector,
- Powers for HSE adult-safeguarding personnel to enter service premises, to speak to residents, to access relevant records, and to apply for new court orders,
- Mandatory reporting of concerns or allegations of abuse in specified circumstances,
- Statutory protections for a person who reports an adult-safeguarding concern in good faith,
- Mandatory adult-safeguarding learning reviews for serious incidents that reach defined criteria, and
- A new role for HIQA providing independent oversight of HSE’s adult-safeguarding services.
‘Holistic approach’
The document describes respect for an individual’s autonomy as “a cornerstone” of the framework, adding that the provisions of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 must be central to all adult safeguarding considerations.
The Department of Health says that the forthcoming legislation will apply to all providers – public, voluntary, and private.
Health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said that the framework provided for “a holistic approach” to safeguarding, with an emphasis on empowerment, prevention, and effective response and intervention.
“We are committed to developing adult-safeguarding legislation to underpin this policy and my department will be advancing this as a matter of priority next year,” she added.
Separately, the Government has approved the publication of a bill that would set up a registration system for providers of home-support services.
Under the Health (Amendment) (Home Support Providers) Bill 2025, providers will be required to adhere to a registration framework supported by national quality standards developed by HIQA, and meet minimum requirements set out under ministerial regulations.