Twenty-one of the country's public nursing homes, including two in Clare, are in danger of closing because they do not meet national standards.
They've all been issued warnings by the Health watchdog HIQA in recent inspection reports.
Of the 21 nursing homes listed, none were earmarked for capital funding in the HSE's service plan for 2015.
According to the Sunday Business Post, these include Raheen Community Nursing Unit in Tuamgraney and St Joseph's Community Hospital in Ennis.
It also lists six in Cork, two in Dublin, Tipperary, Cavan, and Louth 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.
While 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.
