Ms Catherine Keogh:

Senator Burke asked whether something else needed to be looked at. Today we are at the committee mainly to discuss pay restoration but when we fix that particular problem the other issue the unions need to address is long-term sustainable funding for the section 39 organisations.

I was very privileged to attend a confirmation mass in St. Michael's House last week. It is a section 38 organisation. I noticed that the same people who were at that mass helping the children with profound difficulties had been at the communion mass four years previously. It is a matter of gross inequality that the children who are lucky enough to go to a section 38 funded service can rely on the continuity of staff but their fellow citizens and other children who have to rely on section 39 services cannot have that consistency. In fairness to our members, they are working in worse conditions than their counterparts in the section 38 organisations. It is important to note that. Reference was made to not having service users, those who access these services, in this room. They are the people who, ultimately, will suffer the inequality that is here today.