Elder abuse and coercive control
Aidan Farrelly asked whether the law should be changed to cover abuse of older adults by children or carers, noting current coercive control law does not extend that far. The Minister said the Justice Minister would respond directly on the policy plans.
In 2023, 5,500 safeguarding notifications regarding concerns relating to adults aged over 65 years were submitted to the HSE safeguarding and protection teams.
In a response from the Minister for Justice this week, he said that while criminal offences in general, including coercion, harassment, theft and so on apply across the board, the coercive control legislation specifically applies to a spouse, civil partner or person who is or was in an intimate relationship with another person. It does not extend to children taking care of parents. Is it the plan of this Government to make abuse or controlling behaviour of a parent by a caring adult child or relative a prescribed offence?
Comment on this
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I will ask the Minister for Justice to respond to him directly on the particular policy plans in respect of the issue he has raised.