Mr. Damian Ginley:

I will focus on the public service. There is flexibility within the rosters at present to allow people to reduce their hours. If adequate resources are not available, the ability of the HSE to provide the full range of service needed becomes challenging. Therefore, we would arrive in a situation where hours are contracted out and that brings its own challenges.

What we are seeking is a fully resourced, direct labour home support service, and those flexibilities would be provided within that in greater arrangements. The same arrangements apply in the private sector where people in some cases start on quite low hours and try to build their hours. There is flexibility there, but the employees say it is less or more limited in the private environment.