Colin, while I agree there's too much Tunstall in the Scottish programme, they don't provide respite care - only equipment that can be used to reduce (but not replace) the need for human contact. Again, I have doubts about overreliance on gadgets but they do have their place and few people have any idea about those options available to them, or what they really mean.
I believe Marie has experience of some of this equipment and is perhaps less concerned than you or I because of this, and may therefore have very different views about the benefits/downside of Tunstall.