Arguments in favour of a reduction of a pre-confinement period to two weeks were supported by the number of queries on the subject received from the Employment Equality Agency and the Equality Authority. In the light of the pregnant workers' directive, some members of the group felt that a two-week compulsory period before the confinement would generally serve the needs of pregnant women. It was considered that there is ample evidence of this, both in terms of queries dealt with by the Employment Equality Agency and particularly in view of anecdotal evidence that many women submit medical certificates with incorrect confinement dates, which means that in effect they only take two weeks before their confinement.