Thirty-three public nursing homes are set to be replaced, while 57 will be refurbished or extended as part of a major investment in the sector.

According to the Department of Health, this marks ‘one of the most comprehensive programmes of investment in public nursing home facilities in the history of the State'.

A total of 90 nursing homes will benefit from the investment, which will take place between now and 2021. This will lead to an additional 215 beds in locations identified as having ‘particular capacity issues'.

"The 90 facilities between them have 4,723 beds. Having visited very many of these facilities I know that residents and their families attest to the excellence of the care received, but the physical environment needs improvement," commented the Minister for Social Care, Primary Care and Mental Health, Kathleen Lynch.

The investment is made up of €148 million in the current HSE capital plan and a further €237 million capital made available under the Government's recently published multi-annual Capital Plan.

Minister Lynch added that as a result of this investment, all public nursing homes ‘will be compliant with the environmental aspects of Health Information Quality Authority (HIQA) standards by 2021'. These are legally-required standards aimed at ensuring the safety and comfort of all residents.