Nursing Homes Ireland Scorecard finds below average progress on Government’s nursing home care commitment

Monday February 23, 2026

As the Government marks its first year in office, a new report by Nursing Homes Ireland (NHI) has found that significant shortcomings and gaps in delivery remain persistent across key areas of support for nursing home care in Ireland.

The NHI Scorecard (see here) monitors the four commitments set out under “Strengthen our Nursing Home Sector” in the Programme for Government. Each individual commitment has been assessed using clearly defined key performance indicators and graded on a scale from A-F.

Grade A-B reflects strong and effective delivery, grade C indicates partial implementation with significant gaps or delays remaining, while grades D-F indicate limited progress or a total failure to meet stated objectives.

Grading Breakdown

  • The Fair Deal Scheme: the commitment to increase funding for the Fair Deal Scheme and ensure that its waiting list does not exceed four weeks received a C grade.
  • Build More Public Nursing Home Beds: the commitment to build more public nursing home beds received a D grade.
  • National Treatment Purchas Fund (NTPF) Review of Pricing: the commitment to publish the NTPF review of pricing systems in early 2025, and work towards an equitable funding model for the nursing home sector, received a F grade.
  • Career Pathways for Healthcare Assistants: the commitment to provide a career pathway for Healthcare Assistants received a C grade.

The NHI Scorecard is a comprehensive assessment measuring the Government’s delivery on its stated commitments to strengthen nursing home care over the last year. The final performance grade across each of the four commitments was informed by measurable outputs, the quality and reliability of available data, and year-on-year progress.

Speaking on the publication of the Scorecard, Tadhg Daly, NHI CEO, said: “NHI welcomes the Government’s express acknowledgements of the issues facing nursing home care in Ireland, and the necessary requirements needed to address these challenges. This Scorecard provides a clear, independent, and evidence-based assessment of how the Government is preforming on its own commitments to strengthen nursing home care in Ireland. While there has been some progress over the past year, this Scorecard reflects the reality that delivery remains below what is required, with significant gaps persisting across key commitments. These Government commitments are essential to ensuring a resilient, high-quality nursing home sector that can meet growing demand both now and into the future. Sustained, coherent implementation across all four commitments will be essential to ensure that nursing home care is planned, funded, and integrated in a way that is equitable, sustainable, and centred on residents’ rights, needs, and choices.”

ENDS

For Further Information: Ronan Lowther |communications@nhi.ie

About Nursing Homes Ireland 

 Nursing Homes Ireland (NHI) is the national representative body for the private and voluntary nursing home sector, encompassing over 440 nursing homes across Ireland, which provide care to over 27,000 people. Our mission is to actively support and represent our members, enabling them to deliver sustainable, high-quality care to their residents. As the voice of nursing home sector, we are dedicated to championing a care-first philosophy. We actively advocate for the rights and well-being of residents, while responding to the evolving needs and challenges faced by our members. Through this, we pledge to uphold our role as advocates, embracing the direct voices of those we serve and continuously striving to promote excellence in care.

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