I understand that the Health Service Executive (HSE) has already responded to the Deputy in respect of his enquires regarding the number of investigations into the care of vulnerable adults in either foster care, residential settings or other State care setting in each of the years 2013 to 2016. In its response of 31 March 2017 to the Deputy, the HSE advised that there were 5,278 safeguarding concerns reported in Q1-Q3 2016, which was anticipated to rise to over 7,500 concerns by the end of Q4 2016. The HSE has also advised that 2016 represents the first year it collected national data in respect of safeguarding concerns pertaining to older persons and persons with disabilities.
I will now set out the position in respect of the second element of the Deputy’s question, namely the liaison my Departmental officials have had to date with the HSE’s National Safeguarding Office regarding the approximate 7,500 safeguarding concerns reported during 2016.
The safety and protection of vulnerable people in the care of the State is paramount. This Government’s primary concern is that the needs of the residents are being prioritised and addressed. As the Deputy will be aware, a number of important steps have been taken in recent years to strengthen the protection afforded to vulnerable children and adults in the State’s day care and residential care settings. Some of these measures, such as the establishment in early 2014 of the Child and Family Agency, TUSLA, for example, are outside the remit of my Department.
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, including representation from the Department of Health. The Committee is independently chaired by Ms. Patricia T Rickard-Clarke. It has agreed Terms of Reference but its overarching remit is to support the development of a societal and organisational culture, which promotes the rights of persons who may be vulnerable and safeguards them from abuse. Its remit extends beyond abuse of elderly and disabled persons and recognises that any vulnerable adult can be subject to abuse. Vulnerability can be a transient or permanent state depending on many influences.
The Safeguarding Committee published its Strategic Plan for 2017 – 2021 on 20 December 2016. 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 and that a much broader, cross-sectoral approach is needed. I fully support the principle of providing a legislative basis for the safeguarding of vulnerable adults and I am committed to working with my Government colleagues across all the relevant Government Departments to this end.
My Departmental officials liaise with their HSE counterparts on a regular basis, both in respect of safeguarding policy and in respect of specific individual safeguarding concerns.
