A Government taskforce has called on legislators to pass a law to protect vulnerable adults.
The National Safeguarding Committee was established in the wake of scandals surrounding the Áras Attracta residential care home and the alleged abuse in foster care of a disabled woman known as Grace.
Speaking after the launch of a five-year strategy, Chair of the committee Patricia Rickard-Clarke said a key part of the plan was a planned public awareness campaign to make people think, talk, and most importantly, act on safeguarding issues.
She said that recent cases of historical practices and institutional abuse here have led to significant public concern about safeguarding vulnerable citizens.
A 2014 RTÉ Investigations Unit report triggered a number of investigations after an undercover reporter recorded some residents being force-fed, slapped, kicked and physically restrained at the Áras Attracta care centre in Swinford, Co Mayo.
Underlining that any vulnerable adult can suffer abuse, Ms Rickard-Clarke said "safeguarding requires action from a number of agencies and individuals working together to promote an organisational and societal change which protects the rights of adults who may be vulnerable".
She continued: "Key issues that we are interested in establishing through our public opinion poll include gauging how well Irish society protects vulnerable adults.
"We believe safeguarding vulnerable people from abuse is a matter that cannot be addressed by any one agency working in isolation, but rather by a number of agencies and individuals working collaboratively with a common goal.
"This five-year strategy cements our commitment to working together to promote the rights and independence of vulnerable adults in order to safeguard them from abuse," she said.
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"The strategy will guide the work of the committee as we collectively work to influence the Government in the development of progressive, human-rights-based legislation and policies aimed at protecting people who may be at risk of abuse or exploitation, and to increase public understanding of safeguarding vulnerable adults," Ms Rickard-Clarke added.
The project was launched in Dublin by Justice of the Supreme Court Mary Laffoy.
Justice Laffoy underlined that care for people in their own homes is completely unregulated and Ms Rickard-Clarke urged legislators to give powers to a central safeguarding authority to enable it to gain access to a vulnerable person should the need arise.
The National Safeguarding Committee was established by then-minister of state Kathleen Lynch in December 2015 following a commitment in the Health Service Executive's Safeguarding Vulnerable Persons at Risk of Abuse - National Policy and Procedures to support the safeguarding agenda.
The committee, which includes a wide range of agencies, has since been formally established with detailed agreed terms of reference.
Membership of the committee will be reviewed biannually.
