Twenty one of public nursing homes here are in danger of closing because they do not meet national standards.
They have all been issued warnings by the health watchdog, HIQA, in recent inspection reports.
Of the nursing homes listed, none were earmarked for capital funding in the Health Service Executive (HSE) service plan for 2015.
According to the Sunday Business Post, these include six in Cork, two in Dublin, Tipperary, Cavan, Louth and Clare, and one in Leitrim, Kerry, Monaghan, Waterford and Wexford.
Under HIQA regulations, standards must be met by all nursing homes by July - or they face sanctions and possible closure.
Sanctions could include forcing the facilities to reduce their number of residents or high-dependency patients.
And they can also be prevented from admitting more patients.
Inspectors from the health watchdog have reportedly described many more nursing homes as having 'moderate' levels of non-compliance.
