New recommendations on the measures to be considered by nursing homes during the coronavirus pandemic will be outlined tomorrow.
The National Public Health Emergency Team will discuss the recommendations after the Health Minister Simon Harris met with representatives from the sector today.
Minister Harris has assured that nursing homes will remain a key priority throughout the COVID-19 crisis.
There are now 22 cluster cases of the coronavirus in nursing homes nationwide, with 20 of those in the east and the remaining two in the northeast.
At a briefing announcing a three-month agreement for private hospitals to operate as public facilities today, Minister Harris said his focus this week would be to assess how to support staff and residents in nursing homes.
Minister Harris said: "This week we want to look at particular sections of vulnerability in society, and that includes nursing homes.
"How can we support them in terms of their staff, in terms of how they care for the patients, how can we care for the residents there, and crucially what do we need from them as well."
"It is a cause for concern that we have seen so many clusters of infection in nursing homes.
"Tomorrow the National Public Health Emergency Team, chaired by the Chief Medical Officer, will bring forward recommendations for us to consider in relation to what we can do to respond to infection and to the virus in the nursing home sector."
Earlier today, the CEO of Nursing Homes Ireland, Tadhg Daly, told Newstalk Breakfast they need more funding.
He said he would be asking the Health Minister to consider three issues: the provision of personal protective equipment, staffing and funding.
