Brendan Ryan (Labour)

Why should the name and address of a commercial home care provider be regarded as confidential? I understand fully why the name and address of the service recipient should be confidential. Why should the public not know who the HSE contracts to provide home care services? How will we conduct checks on the probity, reliability and truthfulness of home care providers if we do not know who they are?

This will not involve private addresses as these will not be individuals. They will be commercial organisations. The amendment states, "'home care provider' means a natural or legal person who, whether or not pursuant to arrangements referred to in section 61(1), provides, at a charge, home care services". Home care providers could be companies. However, we will not know who they are or the location of their offices or accounts. Why?