Ardent, which listed its shares on Dublin's small companies market on Monday, helps elderly people liberate the cash that is tied up in the value of their homes.

Trading under the brand name Ship, it is one of a growing band of companies offering equity release products to the over 65s, who are sitting on property worth an estimated 100m. At first glance it should be an easy sell, giving pensioners the chance to tap into the money they have locked up in bricks and mortar without the trauma of having to move somewhere else.

But equity release remains a slow burner even in countries such as Britain where it has been available for some time. For example, new research from the UK's Nationwide building society found that four in ten children would rather reach into their own pockets to help their parents financially than allow them sign up for equity release.

Fear of a financial hit on an inheritance is the main motivation because, the more that parents tap into the equity in their homes, the less there will be left to pass on to the children.

"The concept of equity release is sound in theory but it tends to come unstuck when the wider family get involved, " says Frank Conway, marketing manager at Irish Mortgage Corporation, a home loans broker. "People are just not ready to allow mom and dad borrow against the equity in their house.

They're concerned their parents would be getting into something they don't understand."

There are two types of equity release scheme: a lifetime mortgage and a home reversion. With the former, your home is used as security for a loan that is repaid (with high interest rolled up and added) on the property's sale when you die or move into long-term care.

With the latter, you sell a slice of your home to an investment company in exchange for a cash sum.

When the property is sold, the proceeds are split between that company and your heirs.

Earlier this year, the Consumers Association warned that equity release should only be seen as a last resort, adding that trading down to a smaller property probably makes better financial sense for most older people.

The trouble is that Ireland's crazy property taxes will rob you of a big chunk of any money you make from trading down. In other countries, there is a big incentive for older people to downsize because property taxes are levied annually and generally, the bigger your house, the higher the tax you pay each year. In Ireland, you only incur property tax, in the form of penal stamp duties, when you move home, giving all home owners a big incentive to sit tight.

Another alternative to equity release is for children to come to their parents' rescue and it seems only fair that children should put their money where their mouths are if they are worried about losing their inheritance. For example, they could buy part or all of their parents' home, while availing of the reduced rates of stamp duty that apply on property transactions between family members.

Another option is a deed of covenant, which allows children to claim tax relief on money provided to supplement their parents' income.

If you have no choice but to go for an equity release plan, the Consumers' Association warns that you should avoid anything that is not policed tightly. "Loan-based equity release products are regulated by the Financial Regulator but home reversion schemes are not, " it says. "If you are sold a home reversion scheme inappropriately, you have no comeback. Until they are regulated, these schemes are best avoided."

These worries are shared by the Financial Regulator, according to comments made before an Oireachtas committee by its former chief executive, Liam O'Reilly. "We have concerns about the potential for mis-selling of home reversion products on the market due to the fact that they are unregulated, " he said.

If you confine yourself to lifetime mortgages, which are regulated, you will find three lenders to choose from: Bank of Ireland, Ship and Seniors Money, a joint venture between Ireland's IFG Group and a New Zealand-based finance company called Sentinel. Because no repayments are made so long as you remain in the house, the debt can quickly mount up. For example, if you borrow 100,000 today, you could end up owing more than 250,000 in 15 years time.

To stop the debt spiralling out of control, all three lenders have a "no negative equity" pledge so that you will never end up owing more than the value of your home, no matter how long you live or what happens to house prices.

Equity release will always have to fight an uphill battle against the Irish obsession with home ownership. But as more people head towards retirement with big gaps in their pension savings, it is certainly a product whose time has come.