I wish to raise the governance review into allegations of sexual assault at a HSE-run nursing home, which was published today. It outlines harrowing failures to protect vulnerable people and is a very distressing story for us all. It reflects, again, that there is much work to be done to protect and safeguard vulnerable people. In 2020, a healthcare assistant who worked at the home was jailed for 11 years for rape. The victim, known by the pseudonym "Emily", was a resident at the home. The review into the handling of this case uncovered that other residents had made allegations against the same healthcare assistant in the past. However, their serious allegations were not followed up with a safeguarding report and some were dismissed as residents being confused or hallucinating. None was followed up, as should have been the case in line with HSE safeguarding policy. This is a devastating incident that will cause unimaginable distress and trauma for the victims, their families and all of the residents at the home; and my thoughts are with them today. Emily and the other residents who came forward to report attacks have been let down in the most horrific way. The review is damning but it is not the first damning report. The Taoiseach will recall the "Brandon" report in County Donegal, another case in which one person stepping forward exposed similar issues around safeguarding. Today’s report must be a watershed moment. The chief executive of the HSE, Bernard Gloster, said the HSE will do all it can to ensure that safeguarding for all people in care homes is at the highest level of priority. I welcome that because we all must ensure that vulnerable adults are never failed in this way again. Victims must be treated with the dignity they deserve.

Tá an t-athbhreithniú ar fhoréigean gnéis i dteach altranais an HSE millteanach. Éilíonn sé gníomh práinneach chun daoine atá i gcontúirt a chosaint. Tá dualgas ar an Rialtas a chinntiú go bhfuil cosaintí i bhfeidhm.

The National Independent Review Panel, NIRP, issued nine recommendations in its report, which must now be implemented without delay; I am sure the Taoiseach will agree. They include the establishment of a working group to examine and reform how residential facilities for older people operate to ensure they are in line with international best practice. It also includes putting in place a staff awareness campaign to ensure that older people who are victims of sexual abuse are believed and that safeguarding allegations are always taken seriously. It also recommends better management of patients’ notes to ensure that concerns or signs of abuse are recorded and identified early.

There are a number of steps the Government can take to improve protections for vulnerable adults. Adult safeguarding legislation is needed to put legal obligations on service providers to prevent such violence being committed and to hold organisations and individuals to account for failing to protect people at risk. The legislation has been pending for some years but the need for it is now critical; indeed, I heard the Minister for Justice speaking about it again this morning. I call on the Government to commit to the urgent delivery of this legislation. Can we all work together to ensure that vulnerable adults have the support and protections they need and that this review and its nine recommendations are taken seriously and prioritised? Can we work across the House to ensure that all of this is acted upon in order that such a harrowing incident is not repeated?

I thank Deputy McDonald for raising this important issue. I think we can all agree that it is a hugely distressing and shocking affair that strikes terror into the heart of anyone living in a nursing home or anyone who has a loved one in a nursing home. These are supposed to be safe places and they almost always are, but in this instance, that clearly was not the case. It is important to say that the man who committed these assaults is now in prison and is serving an 11-year sentence. He is in prison because of the cognitive clarity and emotional strength of "Emily", who testified against him. She has since passed on. The review by the NIRP was carried out to establish if there were warning signs, signals and complaints that were missed, which there were. There were other allegations, which were not followed up by staff, as they should have been in line with existing HSE safeguarding policies. All incidents were subsequently referred to the Garda and all of the families affected have been informed. I can only echo the words of HSE CEO Bernard Gloster in his statement today, in saying that our concern has to be with the family of Emily and the other families affected, who have been engaged with to date. We intended to engage with them further on wider safeguarding issues in this particular care facility.

We can only at this time unreservedly apologise, condemn what happened and do all we can to ensure that safeguarding for all people in alternative care is at the highest level possible. Neither the CEO of the HSE nor I are satisfied that we fully understand all of the issues in this facility or those arising in the wider care context. For that reason, in the coming days, a safeguarding expert from overseas will be appointed to assist us. Today, it is important, as custodians of care services for older people, that we say, unequivocally, that we failed Emily, regardless of how much we were deceived by any one individual employee. We are anxious to ensure that we also respect the wishes of Emily's family for privacy. Given that this was such a serious incident, we are obliged to look closely at the context, the safeguarding practices at the time and whether there are other issues of concern. Two examinations have taken place to date, which can be broadly described as the review by the NIRP, to which Deputy McDonald referred, and a local safeguarding team review, which was also carried out. There was also a safeguarding report to the Garda and, in this instance, both of the reports identified a number of issues of concern.

The draft national policy on adult safeguarding in health and disability sectors will build on existing policies and structures and will apply to all relevant public, voluntary and private settings and agencies in these sectors. It will be subject to public consultation in the coming months, but we should not lose sight of the fact that there were safeguarding policies in place, which were not followed. Subject to Government approval of the new sectoral policy, legislation will be required to underpin the policy, which will be prepared.

Separately, the Law Reform Commission is preparing a report on a regulatory framework for adult safeguarding and this is expected to inform future legislation across all these sectors.

The policies and laws are in place, therefore, and more work is under way to update and improve those policies and to strengthen those laws. I do not, though, think that laws are enough. Many of the things the Deputy mentioned will also have to be done, particularly the training of staff to ensure that where there are symptoms, signs and complaints, they are taken more seriously than they were in this case.

Go raibh maith agat. We again thank and salute Emily, which is her pseudonymous name, and send our regards to her family and to all the families and all those affected by this. It strikes me that this is one of those issues where the House is of one mind. The clear objective is to keep people safe and to ensure we have the appropriate policies, practices, training and development in place. Equally, however, these must be underpinned in law. There must be a statutory basis upon which all of this is built.

My question to the Taoiseach is on the timing. I appreciate that work has been done and that there is more work to be done in respect of regulatory frameworks, but there is also an urgency around this. People who are currently in the care of the State and the HSE, along with their families and communities, need to know that the Government and all of us in political life are serious about this issue-----

Go raibh maith agat.

-----and that we will now put pace into the delivery of this legislation. I ask the Taoiseach to give us a sense of a timeframe for delivery on the recommendations and the law.

I thank the Deputy. At this point, we will do this as soon as possible. I do not want to give a firm timeline here in the Dáil and then not be able to honour it because of factors outside our control, but there is no time to waste here. We have existing patient safety and safeguarding legislation, but clearly it should be strengthened and updated. We will get this done as soon as possible.

I should put on the record of the House that the HSE's adult safeguarding policy includes a zero-tolerance approach that requires staff to report all abuse concerns, criminal or otherwise. Nursing homes are required today to have in place policies and procedures to ensure residents are protected from abuse. They are also required to provide training for staff to ensure they can recognise, respond to and report any suspected abuse allegations. If immediate risks to the safety of residents are identified, they are expected to take action and prevent a recurrence. This can also include, where required, a referral to An Garda Síochána. They are also required to notify the chief inspector of HIQA of any suspected or alleged actual abuse within three days. It is clear that did not happen in these cases. We must ask ourselves why and then take any actions we can to ensure there is no recurrence.