Adult Safeguarding is about putting measures in place to reduce the risk of harm to adults who may be at risk of abuse. It is about promoting and protecting people’s human rights. It is also about empowering people to make decisions about their health and welfare, including their protection against abuse.

The safety and protection of all our citizens from harm is a key objective and responsibility of Government and society. There are already significant measures in place in the health and social care sector, and in Irish society more generally, to protect at-risk adults from abuse and harm. There are also many supports in place to help them make informed decisions about their own lives, their wellbeing and their protection.

Further to a government decision approving the development of a national policy on adult safeguarding in the health and social care sector, policy proposals have been developed by the Department of Health in liaison with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.

This policy, when finalised, will cover the full spectrum of healthcare and social care services (public, voluntary and private). It will also set out policy on co-operation, information-sharing and referral arrangements between the health and social care sector and other key sectors, including the Garda Síochána, for the purpose of safeguarding at-risk adults against abuse and harm.

This policy will further strengthen the existing adult safeguarding policy framework for the health and social care sector.

The proposed Policy Vision is that:

The policy’s proposed main aims are to:

We are holding a public consultation to give people an opportunity to provide their feedback on these policy proposals.

The views of our service users, their families and friends, and the views of service providers, staff, stakeholders and the general public on how the health and social care system in Ireland should fulfil its safeguarding responsibilities are especially important to us.

For this reason we are seeking the public’s views on the policy proposals before finalising and costing the policy and submitting it to the government for approval. A survey with questions on the policy proposals has been prepared for you to give us your views.

We will carefully assess all feedback received and use it to help develop the final National Adult Safeguarding Policy for the Health and Social Care Sector.