'Nursing homes have given up referring to the HSE because the service isn’t there'

 Mary Burke , director of nursing at Killure Bridge Nursing Home in Waterford.

The final two nursing homes in a public-private partnership programme that was originally due to be completed two years ago are expected to open by December, including a facility in Cork City, the minister of state for older people has said.

Kieran O’Donnell said a total of 230 additional public nursing home beds are expected to come on stream by the end of the year through a number of pathways.