Deirdre Clune (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have a few comments to make. I will not delay the meeting. We are an aging society and people generally want care at home. They also want to be sure, and we need to ensure, that those who are caring have a level of professionalism. I know there is a balance in terms of commercialisation. Most of the people providing care are women. We need to respect that fact and not just lean on their hospitality or sense of neighbourliness. It is important for them to have the proper level of training. We saw it in the child care industry. We need to ensure that those working have particular standards. There is a need for what Home and Community Care Ireland is doing and there will be a greater need in tandem with the care provided by the public sector because the public sector cannot match the needs of individuals, particularly if we want to ensure that people stay in their homes, which is psychologically far better for them. Those are my broad thoughts on the area.

In respect of the working time directive, I was thinking about the 11 hours the speakers said were needed. Obviously, in rural areas, people probably cannot go to their own homes, but in urban areas they could. Is the fact that they may get a call-----