The Leas Cross report has urged the Department of Health to review urgently funding arrangements for nursing home care and to ensure that this is matched to the provision of high-quality care to older people.
It has also proposed that legislation be updated to place the older person at the centre of deliberations.
It says that nursing home inspection teams need to be immediately developed and staffed with persons of relevant expertise to be able to detect poor practice patterns.
The report has also called on the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive to set out criteria for the numbers of adequately trained staff required in long-term residential facilities.
It says that directors of nursing in all long-term care facilities should have gerontological qualifications.
The report says that medical cover in nursing homes must be more clearly specified in terms of relevant training in relation to medicine for the elderly.
It says that specialist medical support (geriatric medicine and psychiatry of old age) need to be developed and that the public health overview of residential care must be strengthened.