SAGE study tour: aged care and home care in Ireland

Dublin, Ireland · September 28 - October 8, 2026

From 28 September to 8 October 2026, an Australian delegation of seven SAGE delegates carried out an eleven-day study tour in Dublin, organised with Dialog Health, on ageing, home care and residential aged care in Ireland: TILDA research, home care providers, nursing homes and a meeting at the Irish Parliament.

From 28 September to 8 October 2026, seven Australian delegates from the SAGE Study Tours programme carried out an eleven-day study tour in Ireland, organised with Dialog Health. Leaders and practitioners from Australian aged care providers, they came to observe how Ireland organises support in later life, from home care to residential care, at a time when both countries are seeking to help more people age at home.

Understanding the Irish context

The tour opened with a seminar led by Niall Costello of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) at Trinity College Dublin. He presented the longitudinal study’s research on ageing and the framework of Ireland’s public health system run by the Health Service Executive (HSE), giving delegates a lens for every subsequent visit. The programme closed at Leinster House, seat of the Oireachtas, the Irish Parliament.

Home care at the centre of the programme

Much of the tour focused on home care. At its offices, North Dublin Home Care presented its not-for-profit model and how it organises scheduling, care planning and its workforce. Clannad Care, based in Waterford, combines home care with healthcare staffing. Comfort Keepers explained its clinical oversight by nurses and the simulated-care training delivered by its centre Elevation Training. Dovida, formerly Home Instead Ireland, presented its local coordination and support for the transition from hospital to home. The conference and Home Care Awards of Home and Community Care Ireland (HCCI) broadened this view to the sector as a whole.

Residential care, transitions and continuity

On the residential side, Virtue Integrated Care showed continuity across residential, home, primary and disability care, guided by its CARA values. Trinity Care, part of the DomusVi group, presented its dementia care, rehabilitation and the choice offered to families. At Orwell Healthcare, in Rathgar and Garville, clinical care is delivered in a homelike environment. Bartra Healthcare presented its multidisciplinary approach to transitional care between hospital and home. In Killenard, Heritage Village offered a counterpoint: an independent community for people aged over 55, not a nursing home.

What the delegation takes away

Visit by visit, delegates could compare with Australia the role of not-for-profit and private providers in home care, clinical oversight of home care workers, the management of hospital-to-home transitions, and the range of options between independent living and long-term care.

The program

  • TILDA seminar — Trinity College Dublin. Niall Costello (TILDA) presented the Irish longitudinal study’s research on ageing and the framework of the public system run by the HSE. The aim: an evidence-based lens before the visits, and a comparison of Irish priorities with those of the Australian system.
  • Virtue Integrated Care. Visit to a provider offering continuity across residential, home, primary and disability care, guided by its CARA values. Why visit: to see how a single operator links several levels of support. Delegates considered this integrated organisation against the fragmentation of services in Australia.
  • Trinity Care (DomusVi). Part of the DomusVi group, Trinity Care presented its dementia care, rehabilitation services and the choice offered to families. The visit showed how a large group adapts residential care to differing needs.
  • North Dublin Home Care. Meeting at the offices of this not-for-profit provider (no on-site care visit). Presentation of its “from ambition to practice” model for ageing in place: scheduling, care planning and workforce management. A concrete look at the internal organisation of a home care service.
  • Home and Community Care Ireland (HCCI) — conference and Home Care Awards. Attendance at the annual conference of the home care providers’ representative body and its Home Care Awards: an overview of issues facing the Irish sector and recognition of care professionals.
  • Clannad Care. Based in Waterford, Clannad Care combines home care with healthcare staffing. Delegates explored how the two activities complement each other amid workforce pressures, an issue shared with Australia.
  • Comfort Keepers and Elevation Training. Comfort Keepers presented the clinical oversight of its services by nurses; its QQI-accredited centre Elevation Training trains carers in a simulated care environment. The visit illustrated the direct link between clinical quality at home and workforce training.
  • Dovida. Formerly Home Instead Ireland, Dovida presented its organisation based on local coordination and its support for the transition from hospital to home. A point of comparison on managing hospital discharge.
  • Heritage Village. In Killenard, an independent community for people aged over 55, not a nursing home. The visit showed an independent-living option upstream of long-term care and completed the range of models observed.
  • Orwell Healthcare — Rathgar and Garville. Visit to the Rathgar and Garville homes, where clinical care is delivered in an environment designed as a place to live. Delegates observed the balance between clinical standards and a homelike setting.
  • Bartra Healthcare. Presentation of a multidisciplinary approach to transitional care between hospital and home. Why visit: to understand how a residential operator handles rehabilitation and preparation for returning home.
  • Leinster House — Oireachtas. The delegation was received at the seat of the Irish Parliament, to place the tour’s observations within Ireland’s political and legislative framework on ageing.