Regulation of residential care for older people

If you or somebody you know are living in a nursing home or other residential care service, it must meet certain standards which include the quality of accommodation and care.

The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) is responsible for inspecting and registering residential care services for older people, such as nursing homes.

Your residential care service or nursing home must be registered and independently inspected. This includes public, private and voluntary nursing homes.

By law, all nursing homes and residential services must be inspected and registered by HIQA to be allowed to operate. Residential services must re-register with HIQA every 3 years.

Since 14 February 2025, the Chief Inspector of Social Services in HIQA can enter and inspect a premises which is not registered, if they have reasonable grounds to believe that an unregistered residential centre is being operated.

What if a nursing home is not compliant?

HIQA inspections ensure that services meet the requirements set out by the Health Act (2007) and the National Standards. If the service does not comply with the regulations or meet the Standards, it may fail to achieve registration status or lose its registration status.

Since 14 February 2025, the Chief Inspector of Social Services in HIQA also has the power to issue compliance notices to providers of residential care for older people when they are non-compliant with regulations. They can also collect, share and publish key operational data in relation to nursing homes.

When are nursing homes inspected?

HIQA inspections are a mixture of both announced and unannounced visits. They can happen at any time. This includes during the day, evenings, and weekends or at night.

The registration and inspection process is independent and reports are published after every inspection. The inspection reports provide information to residents, their families and the general public about the standards of care in individual centres.

You can download the register, view the map of residential centres for older people and the current inspection reports on the HIQA website.

The National Standards for Residential Care Settings for Older People in Ireland (pdf) aim to make sure the needs of people living in residential services are met and that there is a high quality of care.

If you are living in a nursing or care home, the standards aim to help you participate in, and contribute to, daily life, including:

• Promoting your rights and respecting your autonomy, privacy and dignity
• Supporting you to be as independent as possible and to exercise personal choice in your daily life
• Safeguarding and protecting you from abuse
• Providing you with information and assessment so you can get the appropriate supports to meet your needs

If you, a member of your family or someone acting on your behalf have concerns about your care, you should first try to resolve these with the management of the residential service.

By law, all care providers must have a complaints process and must tell you how you can make a complaint. If you complain to your care service provider and you are not happy with the response, contact the Office of the Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman investigate all complaints about public and private residential care. It doesn't matter if you're paying for the care yourself or it's funded by the HSE.

You can also Report a Concern or Give Feedback with HIQA.

HIQA do not have the power to investigate individual complaints but they can use the information to decide whether the service is meeting the needs of the people who live there. If HIQA find the residential service is not, they can take action to make sure that care services are improved.

HIQA have published information on how to make a complaint about a nursing home (pdf).

If you are looking for details on an individual residential care service, you can apply to them directly for details of their cost and conditions.

More information on the registration and inspection of residential care services, as well as on the National Standards, is available on the HIQA website.