Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

This is my 50th time since being elected to stand here and discuss the disability sector. Section 39 organisations, as the Minister of State is only too well aware, are very close to my heart. I also welcome the service providers and some of their clients who are with them today in the Gallery.

The Minister of State has been to the section 39 organisations in my constituency. Wexford probably has the highest concentration of service providers as well as service users in the country, from Windmill Therapeutic, Cumas, Reach Ability, St. Aidan's and the Wexford Wheelchair Association and there are more. The Minister of State has been to visit them and has seen what they do. I have been to meetings called by service providers on the basis that they are haemorrhaging staff because the pay disparity is €4.20 an hour. No one can blame the existing section 39 workers for wanting to better themselves. It causes them physical and emotional pain to leave the service providers and move to the HSE such is their devotion to those to whom they provide care. I see it first hand. I interact so much with the families in my community who use these services. They are petrified that they will not have a day’s service next week. Many of the families we are talking about are parents in the 70 to 85 years bracket. They are barely able to manage the clientele that the section 39 services provide for at home. These are their loved ones but they find it very difficult in many circumstances. Nor are homecare support packages available. We have 564 waiting in Wexford. This issue is paramount. I know the Minister of State understands. I am not going to patronise her and say that she does not. What I do not understand is that although she is a strong advocate for the sector she has not taken command of the civil servants who are not backing this. As her own colleagues have said, this did not begin today or yesterday; it is going on for years. I do not stand here and relish the fact that the Minister of State’s own colleagues and backbenchers are standing as if they are in opposition. We are united here entirely as elected representatives on what needs to happen. It is not just because we want section 39 workers to be better off but because we want to see the families and service users in a position where they are not so vulnerable that they do not have a service available to them.

The Regional Group insisted that this come to the floor for debate. We also put it in our budget proposal that there would be pay parity for section 39 workers. This has gone on far too long. As a State, we need to plan. We cannot allow this to fester. It is not just about the strike. In Wexford, we have had a reduction in beds. We are actually going backwards. Some service providers provide residential placements as well as day services. In 2021, residential beds went from 67 and then 70 in 2022 back to 56 in 2023. I say to the Minister and the Minister of State that this needs to be addressed. We need planning for the future.

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