Blog

On Wednesday, December 9th, 2025, the Department of Health launched the country's first-ever National Policy Framework for Adult Safeguarding in the Health and Social Care Sector.

Working with vulnerable individuals? In Ireland, safeguarding isn't just a choice – it's your legal duty, ethical imperative, and the bedrock of your reputation. Navigating complex laws like the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015, HSE Safeguarding Policies, Charities Governance Code, and GDPR is demanding. A robust framework...

It is now possible to report concerns of abuse and neglect electronically to the HSE Safeguarding and Protection Teams. Professionals working in health and social care should now submit community referrals to the HSE Safeguarding and Protection Teams via the adult safeguarding portal. Organisations and services who are required to submit...

Charities are groups of concerned citizens working together on some of the biggest issues in our world today, from children's welfare to disability rights and from hunger to climate change, and much more. Charities therefore perform a vital function on behalf of all of us.

The Joint Committee on Disability Matters in April 2024 launched their report on "Ensuring rights based adult safeguarding in Ireland". This report is as a result of two public meetings undertaken by the Committee; 31 March 2022 HIQA, Sage Advocacy, the Irish Association of Social Workers and Professor Brendan Kelly, professor of psychiatry at...

One of the biggest challenges facing employers in today's employment market is the ability to be able to hire and retain good and loyal workers who are willing to take on the responsibilities of the role. Most Senior Managers within the health and caring sector state that a significant amount of their time involves sitting on interview boards...

In the last number of weeks, I have noticed an increase in requests from community organisations for support to implement their Adult Safeguarding Policy and provide Safeguarding Training for staff in their organisation. I believe this increase is directly related to the fact that Ireland, and specifically community groups in rural parts of...

Across all sections in society, those involved in the provision of care can learn from any near miss, incident, complaint or accident. Any one of these can be a learning experience for all involved, particularly if there are certain situations that are recurring. It can unfortunately also be an indicator of abuse, including risk to safeguarding in...

In Ireland, most adults live independent lives which are free from abuse or the harm which can be caused by abuse. Unfortunately, there are some adults who may have been abused or are at risk of being abused. Within the social care and health care sector "safeguarding" is often only considered when responding to abuse concerns or allegations of...

As of June 2020, I am offering Online Governance Training for Trustees in Social Enterprises, Charities, Cooperatives and Not for Profits. I will liaise with your Charity Trustees prior to the training in order to carry out a Training Needs Analysis.

When faced with a complaint in an organisation, employers will often try and resolve the complaint themselves or will delegate the task to a junior manager. Resolving the matter can take many forms but if not handled correctly it can have significant financial, legal and reputational implications. Some of the most common mistakes that employers...