Live-in care in Ireland – agency or care provider? What to know before you choose 

Two ways live-in care is arranged

The main difference is what happens after the introduction, including who keeps an eye on the quality of your care. 

	Placement agency	Home care provider (Dovida)
What they do	Find and introduce a caregiver	Dovida assess your needs, match a caregiver and manage and adapt your care on an ongoing basis
Who monitors your care	Often you or your family	A Dovida Care Manager, through regular reviews, supervision and wellbeing checks
Who employs the caregiver	Often you or your family;	Dovida
Payroll, tax and leave	Can fall to you as employer	Dovida
Care plan	Often you or your family;	Built with you at an in-home consultation and reviewed by a Care Manager
Cover for sickness or holidays	Often you or your family;	Local offices arrange cover and replacements
Training	Often you or your family;	Onboarding and ongoing training through Dovida Academy, including dementia, seizures, manual handling, medication support, person-centred care and anything required to assist with your specific requirement
Getting started	Varies	Care usually begins within 2–3 weeks, depending on complexity and availability

Who is the employer, and why it matters to you? 

If you employ a live-in caregiver yourself, Irish employment law treats you as their employer. That brings duties most families are not expecting, and as the employer, overseeing the caregiver’s work and the standard of care also falls to you. 

According to the Workplace Relations Commission, an employer of someone working in a private home must: 

• Give a written statement of terms and conditions, and a payslip. 

• Pay at least the National Minimum Wage (allowances for board and lodging are capped). 

• Keep average weekly hours at or below 48, over a 4-month period. 

• Give rest breaks, annual leave, public holidays and a Sunday premium. 

• Respect the caregiver’s privacy, and never hold their passport or ID documents. 

• Keep detailed records for 3 years; failing to do so is an offence. 

You would also need to register with Revenue as an employer and run PAYE, unless you have one domestic employee earning under €40 a week. The WRC’s Code of Practice for Protecting Persons Employed in Other People’s Homes sets out further expectations. 

If a caregiver believes their rights have been breached, they can complain to the WRC, and the complaint is made against the employer.  

Dovida employs its caregivers, these responsibilities sit with the Dovida not with you, and so does monitoring the care you receive. 

Continuity, cover, monitoring and your care plan

Good live-in care depends on familiar faces, someone checking that care is going well, and a plan that changes as your needs do. 

• Continuity: Dovida works on 2-month rotations with 2 caregivers, so you get to know the people supporting you. 

• When a caregiver is ill or on leave: our local offices arrange cover and replacements, so your care is not interrupted. 

• Your care plan: we start with an in-home consultation and build a plan around your preferences, routines and goals. 

• Ongoing quality: Care Managers carry out regular reviews, supervision and wellbeing checks, and act on your feedback. 

• Working hours: live-in caregivers are on active duty for 7 hours a day, 6 days a week (42 hours), spread across the day to suit you. 

When you speak to any provider, ask who arranges cover, who writes your care plan, who monitors your care and how often, and who you call if something is not working. 

Regulation is coming to home care

The Health (Amendment) (Home Support Providers) Act 2026 was signed into law on 1 July 2026. Once commenced, it will require providers of home support services to register, with HIQA inspecting against national standards. That adds independent monitoring of how care is delivered. 

The Act is not yet in force; the Minister for Health will set the commencement dates. When it is, ask any provider whether they are registered.

Questions to ask any live-in care provider

1. Who will be the caregiver’s employer: you or the provider? 

2. Who pays the caregiver and handles payroll tax? 

3. Are caregivers Garda-vetted, with police clearance from every country they have lived in since the age of 16? 

4. Do caregivers have the right to live and work in Ireland? 

5. Are caregivers insured while working in your home? 

6. What training do they receive before they start, and afterwards? 

7. Who arranges cover if your caregiver is ill or on holiday? 

8. Who writes and reviews your care plan, and who monitors the care you receive, and how often? 

9. Is the service 5, 6 or 7 days a week, and how many hours a day? 

10. Is the provider authorised to deliver HSE home support?

Our free guide, Important considerations when choosing your Live-in care provider, sets out Dovida’s answers beside space for you to compare others. 

Talk to us. Book a free, no-obligation care consultation on 1800 911 855 or by completing our simple contact form at this link.

Sources 

• Workplace Relations Commission – Domestic workers 
• WRC – Code of Practice for Protecting Persons Employed in Other People’s Homes 
• Revenue – Registration of employers for PAYE 
• William Fry – Home Support Providers Act signed into law 
• Dovida – Important considerations when choosing your Live-in care provider