Independent Ireland TD Ken O’Flynn has said a written reply from the HSE raises serious questions about how vulnerable adults are being safeguarded across more than 700 non-statutory bodies receiving HSE funding.
In response to a parliamentary question tabled by Deputy O’Flynn, the HSE confirmed that its central register records whether funding contracts have been signed, but does not centrally record whether funded organisations have:
The HSE stated that it “does not operate a centralised national register that tracks safeguarding-policy compliance.”
Deputy O’Flynn also asked the HSE to provide details of safeguarding audits, reviews or inspections carried out between 2022 and 2025. The response did not provide details of any such national audit, review or inspection programme.
Deputy O’Flynn said:
“The HSE is funding more than 700 of these arrangements with public money, yet its own response confirms that it does not have a central system showing whether those organisations are actually compliant with safeguarding requirements.
“The HSE can tell me whether a funding contract has been signed. It cannot provide me with a national record showing whether a safeguarding policy is in place, whether a designated safeguarding officer has been appointed, or whether the appropriate reporting arrangements exist.
“That is a very serious gap when we are talking about vulnerable adults who may depend entirely on these organisations for care, support and protection.
“I asked a straightforward question about oversight and received an answer about contracts and administrative arrangements. But signing a funding agreement is not the same thing as safeguarding a vulnerable person.
“If the State is providing hundreds of millions of euro in public funding through these arrangements, there has to be meaningful assurance that the organisations receiving that money are meeting the safeguarding standards expected of them.
“I will be pressing the Minister directly on this issue. The State cannot outsource responsibility for protecting vulnerable adults simply because the service itself is being delivered by a non-statutory organisation.”