Where Irish home care is headed, and why I'm building for it
Home care in Ireland is being regulated for the first time. Five changes are coming to every agency: registration with HIQA, a first inspection, HSE money that follows the evidence, a shortage of carers, and families who expect to see. Only the Minister's go-ahead sets a date, and the quiet year before it is the time to get ready.
The Home Support Providers Act: what every small Irish agency needs to know
The Health (Amendment) (Home Support Providers) Act 2026 was signed on 20 July 2026. Once the Minister switches it on, every home support provider in Ireland must register with HIQA and can be inspected against national standards; operating unregistered becomes an offence. The registration system is not live yet, the standards are still draft, and the useful work now is getting eight kinds of record in order.
Registered, authorised, approved: the three lists an agency can be on
An Irish home-care agency can be on three lists: a local HSE arrangement that sends it hours, the HSE's Home Support Authorisation Scheme as an approved provider at a fixed rate, and, once the Act commences, HIQA's register of home support providers. They ask for different proof, and only the third is a legal requirement to operate.
Written by Dean Powell, Founder/Director, Careloom, Donegal. General information, not legal advice. Each guide carries the date it was last checked.
The HIQA-readiness checklist
The eight records and the policy schedule, as a printable two-page self-audit. Mark each line have it, scattered or missing and you'll have your registration to-do list by the end of a coffee.