The Alliance – Supporting Nursing Homes has called for a renewed focus on Irish-owned nursing homes, domestic investment and a sustainable funding model that supports the long-term future of residential care for older people.
We believe Ireland must avoid becoming overly dependent on international investment funds to develop and operate essential nursing home services. The experience of institutional investment in the Irish property market, together with concerns regarding certain corporate ownership and financing structures within residential care, raises important questions about long-term sustainability, accountability and value for public money.
Ireland has the expertise, the businesses and the investment capacity to develop and operate its own nursing homes. What is missing is a funding model that makes such investment commercially sustainable.
The Alliance believes that independent and family-run nursing homes play a vital role in their communities, providing employment, supporting local economies and ensuring older people can receive care close to their families.
We are particularly concerned about investment structures involving substantial management fees, service charges and complex offshore arrangements, where public funding intended to support resident care may ultimately contribute to financial returns outside the State. Such arrangements warrant appropriate transparency and scrutiny, particularly where services are substantially funded through the Nursing Homes Support Scheme.
Taxpayers’ money should primarily support the delivery of high-quality care, sustainable services and genuine value for the public.
Through our proposed Rosetta Cost-of-Care Model, The Alliance is advocating for a transparent, evidence-based funding framework that reflects the actual cost of providing care, resident dependency levels, regulatory requirements and the financial realities facing nursing home operators.
A properly structured funding model would give Irish businesses and investors greater confidence to develop new nursing homes, protect existing capacity and invest in local communities without relying excessively on large international investment structures.
Our position is clear. Ireland should be creating the conditions for home-grown businesses to invest in the future of care for older people, rather than allowing the direction of the sector to be determined primarily by access to international institutional capital.
Ireland has the capability. We have the capital. What we need is the right funding model.
The Alliance believes Rosetta can form an important part of that solution.