Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to apologise for the fact the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, cannot be here. I thank Deputy Broughan for raising this important issue and will outline the current position on the situation.

The Irish Wheelchair Association is funded under section 39 of the Health Act 2004. The HSE has in place service level agreements with providers funded under section 39 of the Health Act 2004 that set out the level of service to be provided for the grant to the individual organisation and requirements in relation to standards of care.

The HSE has established a governance framework to cover funding relationships with all non-statutory agencies. It is the policy of the HSE that all funding arrangements with section 39 agencies are formalised by complying with this governance framework which has two different components.

Part 1 is a service level arrangement that is signed every three years by both parties and sets out the legal requirements that the agency must comply with to receive funding for the provision of services. Part 2 is a set of schedules which must be completed and signed by the agency and the HSE, which sets out the detail of the service and the exact funding that the HSE is providing for the delivery of this service. This set of schedules also identifies the quality standards and best practice guidelines to be adhered to in the provision of all services, along with the process for managing complaints in relation to service provision.

The HSE has implemented a measure whereby for agencies who have not completed the necessary governance arrangement process within the required timeframe of 1 March 2017, a 20% withholding of funding is applied. Every effort was made by the HSE to encourage agencies to complete this process within the timeframe, including extending the timeframe to 1 April for some agencies.

With regard to the Irish Wheelchair Association specifically, this organisation was unable to complete these governance arrangements as outlined above. Consequently, 20% of its funding under its SLA has been withheld. To be clear, this is not a funding cut or a fine. The full funding will be returned to the agency on completion of the governance arrangement process. The HSE has advised that a refusal to complete its governance arrangements due to pay restoration issues is not acceptable to the executive.

With regard to matters relating to pay of staff in the IWA, it should be noted that the individuals employed by section 39 organisations are not HSE employees. As such, the HSE has no role in determining the salaries or other terms and conditions applying to these staff. The staff concerned are not subject to the control of the Department of Health and they are not classified as public servants.

Staff in section 39 agencies were not subject to the provisions of public service agreements or the FEMPI legislation which imposed the associated pay reductions. Accordingly, any arrangements offered by each service provider in regard to its employees' terms and conditions, including rates of pay, may vary.

The HSE acknowledges the significant savings in efficiencies service providers have made since 2008. The health service, as a whole, must operate within the parameters of funding available to it. Given the current economic environment this is a challenge for all stakeholders, including the HSE, voluntary service providers like the Irish Wheelchair Association, service users and their families.

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