Mr. Michael Fitzgerald:

I hear very clearly the discussion around the 30 minutes. I can only say that our professional nursing, home care and home support managing staff are very clear about this requirement, although it might be difficult to provide it in a day's routine. If the half hour makes the difference in maintaining somebody at home, it is what we must do.

I will not go over the ground again but it is incumbent on all providers, both voluntary and private, to attract people into this service provision, as we will need them in future.. The HSE will certainly work with them in this regard. From the HSE perspective, where there is a directly provided HSE service, we retain the right to provide those services. If people are refusing to provide services, the only provision might come through the HSE. The direct provision is there and our intention is to maintain direct provision. That said, we want providers for choice, and that has worked quite well in other spheres, such as in nursing homes and residential care services, etc. It is important.