A British nursing home chain backed by Irish businessmen Dermot Desmond, Denis Brosnan, John Magnier and JP McManus plans to expand into this country.
Mike Parsons, the chief executive of nursing home chain Barchester, says that it is actively seeking to enter the Irish market.
"I think it is an obvious thing to do," Mr Parsons said yesterday. "We've now got a full-time development director based in Dublin."
He added that Barchester had only just begun to look seriously at the Irish market. It had been drawn here by an emerging gap in the market and incentives designed to stimulate investment in healthcare.
Mr Parsons indicated that the company was also talking to a number of Irish-based developers.
"The potential to do some joint ventures in Ireland is there, and we're talking to a number of significant property companies," he said.
"They are looking at doing big residential or commercial schemes. It helps to give a social dimension to their schemes."
The company made a brief foray into the Irish market over two years ago and it had been eyeing up a number of sites. However, Mr Parsons said that the initiative got bogged down in planning difficulties.
Barchester provides residential care for the elderly and for younger disabled people. Mr Parsons and former Kerry Group boss, Mr Brosnan, founded the business in the early 1990s.
Last autumn, it bought rival Westminster in a €750 million deal, making it one of the top three companies in its sector. The company is looking at the possibility of a flotation in the medium term. Mr Parsons was in Dublin yesterday to address a conference organised by Goodbody Stockbrokers on private investment in healthcare. Dr Ian Hunter, the firm's senior healthcare analyst, estimated yesterday the combined investment in healthcare by the private sector could reach €3 billion over the next five years.
"We have identified a range of investment opportunities from large hospital projects to primary care centres," he said. "These include private units at the main hospitals in Dublin and Cork, providing services to the public and private sector.
"There is also potential for up to four stand-alone hospitals in the environs of Dublin and for primary care centres (GP clinics and health centres) throughout the country."
Dr Hunter added that this market could attract big US players. One such operator, Triad Hospitals, is already an investor in the Beacon Healthcare private hospital in Sandyford in Dublin.
