In the GOLTC Long-Term Care system profile for Ireland, Brendan Walsh and Sheelah Connolly (Economic and Social Research Institute and Trinity College Dublin) describe the Irish LTC system.

Highlights from the Irish LTC system profile:

The Irish LTC system relies heavily on unpaid family care, supplemented by publicly funded formal services. The most established component of the formal LTC system is the Nursing Home Support Scheme (NHSS), or ‘Fair Deal,’ which provides means-tested financial support for residential care. No such statutory scheme exists for other LTC services.

The majority of residential care and home support in Ireland is publicly funded but provided by for-profit operators. In combination with the lack of a LTC resource allocation mechanism, this current system of funding and provision has resulted in inequalities in service provision across regions, resulting in many people with LTC needs purchasing care privately.

Policymakers are currently considering an ambitious new system of integrated home- and community-based care guided by the Sláintecare health system reform plan. Such a system will place more emphasis on home support, enhanced community care, and better integration of services. LTC reforms will be aided by greater devolution of financing and decision making to newly established Health Regions and will be guided by recommendations for strategic developments for care from a new independent Commission on Care for Older People.

Click here to read the new LTC system profile for Ireland.

Click here to see all the system profiles.