The Cabinet has approved publication of the Health (Amendment) (Home Support Providers) Bill 2025. This is a significant step towards regulation of home care providers in the State and follows on from an increase in funding to the sector over recent years in recognition of the aging population and increasing demand for home care services. The Bill seeks to amend the Health Act 2007 to provide for a system of registration for home care providers. This follows on from the publication, by the Department of Health, of the General Scheme of the Health (Amendment) (Licensing of Professional Home Support Providers) Bill 2024.
The Bill will provide for a system of national quality standards developed by the Health Information Quality Authority and minimum requirements will be set out in Ministerial Regulations. To those familiar with the regulation and oversight of nursing homes in the State by HIQA, this regime will be very familiar.
The Bill will provide for criminal liability for those who provide home support services whilst not registered. The Chief Inspector of Social Services will be responsible for monitoring and assessing compliance of registrants with the relevant regulations and national quality standards. Ultimately, a HIQA inspectorate will be charged with inspecting providers and reporting on their findings. The Bill will likely provide for a process to police, and ultimately cancel registration of a provider where serious non-compliance is established.
The next step in the process is for the Minister for Health and the Minister of State for Older People and Housing to bring the Bill before the Houses of the Oireachtas for consideration. The Bill will become an Act once passed by both houses and signed into law by the President.
This discussion builds on similar issues explored in our prior article on the draft scheme for the legislation, available here – Draft Legislation on In-Home Support | Hayes LLP.
For further information or advice on how this draft legislation will impact your organisation, please contact Matthew Austin, Partner, in our Commercial & Business team.
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