How to Find Home Care in Ireland: Providers, HSE Home Care Packages and What to Expect

Home care in Ireland is support delivered in your own home — typically home help hours, personal care and related services — and you find it by searching a home care directory by county, or by arranging an HSE-approved Home Care Package through an approved provider. Use a directory when you are choosing and comparing providers privately; use the HSE-approved route when your care is being funded or arranged through the health service. The guide below covers what home care includes, how to search, what a package contains, and how to check standards before you commit.

What home care in Ireland covers — and how it differs from a nursing home

Home care is designed to help you or a family member continue living at home. The services delivered through a home care package are described as flexible, but may include additional home help hours alongside other supports. In practice, this means the mix of tasks is agreed around the person's needs rather than being a fixed menu.

The key distinction from residential care is location and intensity:

If the person's needs have moved beyond what can safely be managed at home, the nursing homes directory and the site's Information Centre (covering cost of care, Fair Deal, tax relief and regulations) are the relevant next stops.

How to search a home care directory by county

The Retirement Care Services site is built as a county-by-county listing, which makes the search straightforward:

1. Open the Home Care Directory section. The site describes its aim as guiding you through a comprehensive list of home care providers in Ireland.
2. Select the relevant county link. Providers are reviewed by clicking the county link for your area — this is the site's stated method for both home care and convalescent care listings.
3. Record the provider details for each result in your county so you can compare them side by side.
4. Repeat for neighbouring counties if you live near a border or want more choice.

Expected result: a shortlist of home care providers operating in your county, with contact details you can use to ask about availability and assessment.

Common sticking point: the directory is a listing service, not a booking or vetting service. Inclusion in a directory does not by itself confirm HSE approval, so verify that separately (see below).

What an HSE-approved Home Care Package includes and who provides it

Since 1 September 2016, all new Home Care Packages approved by the HSE are provided by organisations approved by the HSE following a detailed tender process. That is the single most useful fact for anyone whose care is being arranged or funded through the HSE: the provider should be on the approved list.

On content, the site states that services provided through a home care package are flexible, but might include additional home help hours. Treat the package as a starting point for a conversation about the person's actual needs rather than a guaranteed set of tasks.

Two practical implications:

• Ask which route applies to you. If the HSE is approving your package, confirm the provider is HSE-approved. If you are arranging care privately, the approved-list question is still worth asking, but it is not the only marker of quality.
• Existing providers still operate. The site notes that existing providers also provide a quality service and work under agreed standards, which are monitored by staff in the local health office. So a provider not on the new approved list is not automatically unsuitable — but you should confirm which standards and monitoring apply to them.

How to check a provider's approval and standards

Use these checks before you sign up with any provider:

• Confirm HSE approval status for anyone delivering an HSE-approved Home Care Package, and ask for the basis of that approval.
• Ask about monitoring. For providers working under agreed standards, monitoring sits with staff in the local health office — ask the provider who monitors them and how recently.
• Cross-check the listing. The directory gives you the provider's contact details; use them to request confirmation in writing rather than relying on the listing alone.
• Check the Information Centre on the site for the regulatory and cost context that applies to care services in Ireland.

Practical steps to compare providers and arrange care

Once you have a county shortlist, compare on the same dimensions so the decision is like-for-like:

1. Availability in your area — confirm they actually cover your townland, not just the county.
2. What the hours cover — home help hours versus personal care; ask them to describe a typical week.
3. Approval and monitoring status — HSE-approved for packages, or working under agreed standards monitored by the local health office.
4. Who delivers the care — ask how cover works when a regular carer is unavailable.
5. Cost and funding route — establish whether the HSE package applies or you are paying privately; the site's Information Centre covers cost of care and tax relief.
6. References and a trial period — ask for references and whether a short trial of visits is possible.

Verification method: after each conversation, write down the answers to points 1–5 for every provider. If one provider cannot answer the approval or monitoring question clearly, that is your signal to look further.

Common sticking points to plan for:

• Timing. HSE-approved packages depend on approval and the tender-approved provider list, so start the process early rather than at the point of discharge.
• Post-hospital recovery. If the need is a period of recovery after surgery, major illness or an accident, the site also lists convalescent care providers by county — a different category from ongoing home care, and worth checking if the need is temporary.
• Directory coverage. The home care directory is a guide to providers, not a guarantee of places; always phone to confirm current availability.

For the residential alternative, the nursing homes directory and the related guides on choosing a nursing home, costs and Fair Deal cover the comparison in more depth.