1,209 adults in nursing homes 'never designed to meet their needs' 

HSE general manager of disability services Tom McGuirk acknowledged the then Ombudsman Peter Tyndall’s research 'suggests that nursing homes in general are designed for frail older people in the latter stage of their life'.

More than 1,200 adults under the age of 65 remain living in nursing homes, five years after the Ombudsman ruled that such a practice should cease entirely.

As of December 2025, some 1,209 people aged 18-65 were living in nursing homes, down from 1,249 in January last year.