Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 January 2026
1018. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Health if she is satisfied that the current professional regulatory framework adequately protects the public interest where systemic or organisational ethical breaches arise within health and social care services (details supplied). [4261/26]
View answer1019. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Health the reason there is no statutory or regulatory mechanism within CORU that allows ethically bound health and social care professionals to report systemic or organisational breaches of professional ethics, as distinct from individual fitness-to-practise complaints; her views on whether the absence of such a mechanism places the burden of ethical responsibility entirely on individual professionals rather than organisations, thereby making speaking up professionally perilous and potentially self-sacrificing, and undermining the stated public-protection purpose of professional regulation; and the consideration that has been given to introducing a protected, independent reporting pathway for systemic ethical breaches within the professional regulatory framework. [4262/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1018 and 1019 together.
I propose to take PQs 4261 and 4262 together.
Statutory regulation forms part of a system of assurances to mitigate risk posed to the public by the practice of health and social care professions. CORU is Ireland’s multi-profession health and social care regulator. Its role is to protect the public by regulating the health and social care professions designated under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 (as amended). CORU’s mandate is public protection through regulating individuals; it cannot enforce organisational governance standards or compel system-level changes.
However, there are existing processes in place for health and social care professionals to raise concerns in relation to health and social care services.
Regarding child safeguarding the Children First Act 2015 places specific legal duties on organisations providing children's services to protect them from harm.
Regarding adult safeguarding in the health and social care sector, there are currently a range of structures and processes in place to protect against abuse and ensure prompt action when there is a safeguarding concern. The HSE’s National Policy and Procedures for Adult Safeguarding sets out detailed processes and pathways for health and social care staff to raise concerns about abuse or neglect of at-risk adults and Safeguarding and Protection Teams are in place in each Health Region to receive and respond to concerns and to provide advice to services. If it is believed that someone is in immediate danger or that criminal activity has occurred, An Garda Síochána should be contacted.
Safeguarding structures and processes will be significantly expanded and strengthened under the new National Policy Framework for Adult Safeguarding in the Health and Social Care Sector, which was approved by Government and published in December 2025. The policy framework will extend across all public, private and voluntary health and social care services. A range of both legislative and non-legislative measures are included to significantly expand and strengthen existing supports and protections for adults at risk of harm across the health and social care sector. Implementation structures, as set out in the policy, will now be established and the Chief Social Worker in the HSE will lead the development of an implementation plan within 6 months. The Government has also approved the development of legislation to underpin the commitments within the policy framework. This legislation will provide:
• that HSE adult safeguarding structures will operate independently and with full authority in the performance of their statutory adult safeguarding functions,
• for the introduction of mandatory reporting where specified persons and/or bodies in the health and social care sector will be required to report concerns or allegations of abuse that meet a defined reportable harm threshold to the HSE’s adult safeguarding structures, and
• for the introduction of mandatory adult safeguarding learning reviews for serious safeguarding incidents, strengthening the current process for independent reviews by the National Independent Review Panel (NIRP) and placing it on a statutory footing.
In addition, the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 provides certain protections to those who make a complaint of suspected wrongdoing in the workplace. Under the Act, all workers including CORU-regulated health and social care professionals, are legally entitled to report information they reasonably believe shows a relevant wrongdoing that came to their attention in a work-related context. The Act provides a statutory framework for making such disclosures and expressly allows concerns to be raised about not only individual misconduct but also systemic or organisational issues. Workers who make protected disclosures are afforded strong legal safeguards including confidentiality of their identity and protection from penalisation, ensuring they can raise concerns safely, in the public interest, and with confidence that disclosures will be handled in accordance with prescribed legal procedures.
Further details on protected disclosures are available on the Protected Disclosures Commissioner’s website (link below).
www.opdc.ie/en/publication/3a25c-what-a-protected-disclosure-is/#who-i-can-make-a-report-to.
