New laws are being considered to protect adults from abuse.

The proposals are being suggested to protect adults from physical, sexual, psychological or financial abuse.

The Law Reform Commission is examining a range of ideas to protect vulnerable adults in the home.

A paper notes that there is "widespread agreement" on the need for a clear statutory framework on adult safeguarding - which would address risks.

The commission says its approach is to examine what form that regulatory framework might take, building on existing arrangements, parallel policy and legislative developments.

In 2016, a public opinion survey by Safeguarding Ireland found that one in three of respondents were not clear about who they could report adult mistreatment to.

While two in three agreed that people suspecting mistreatment were unlikely to report their concerns to an appropriate authority.

In 2017, there were 10,000 notifications of safeguarding concerns to HSE safeguarding teams.

The commission says that this shows that new HSE guidelines are identifying health-related abuse of at-risk adults, which also illustrates the scale of abuse.

The paper is seeking people's views on 11 key issues - including defining key terms, defining abuse and neglect and powers of entry and inspection.

It also deals with the specific issue of financial abuse.

This includes financial abuse in the banking and financial services context generally, and in the context of social welfare payments.

It also discusses the possible scope of safeguarding investigative powers, including the use of barring and protection orders.

And it examines the need for multi-agency coordination and collaboration in adult safeguarding.

The commission is seeking views on the issues raised by Thursday April 30th.