Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Why has the Taoiseach's Ministers, Deputies Paschal Donohoe and Simon Harris, refused to provide the funding necessary for the restoration of staff salaries in section 39 health sector organisations? Unlike colleagues often doing the very same job in section 38 agencies and in the HSE, health workers in the 1,800 section 39 organisations have been discriminated against and denied pay restoration under the Lansdowne Road agreement.

Three weeks ago I hosted a Dáil briefing that was addressed by chief executive officers of the two largest section 39 organisations in the country, the Irish Wheelchair Association and the Rehab . The briefing was well attended by colleagues from all sides of the House and the Seanad and was addressed by the two chief executive officers, Ms Rosemary Keogh of the Irish Wheelchair Association and Ms Mo Flynn of Rehab. I am delighted to extend a welcome to Ms Keogh who is in the Visitors Gallery. Both CEOs strongly warned that the services provided by their organisations will be in jeopardy if there is no urgent resolution of the pay restoration issue for their staff, and those most negatively impacted will be the tens of thousands of our citizens with disabilities receiving vital support services.

The Irish Wheelchair Association, which has its headquarters is in Clontarf in my constituency, delivers 1.17 million hours of assisted living services to almost 2,000 people. It employs 1,500 people in providing assisted living services and it is the largest provider of these services in Ireland. It has approximately 20,000 members throughout the country. Ms Keogh succinctly informed us three weeks ago that if one works as a home support worker with a section 38 organisation or the HSE, one will receive the Lansdowne Road agreement pay increases but if one does equivalent work with the Irish Wheelchair Association, the State does not recognise one's right to seek pay restoration even though one will be carrying out the exact same tasks. Ms Mo Flynn of Rehab, which provides a similar level of services, highlighted the difficulty for section 38 organisations in retaining skilled staff, given that section 38 staff are now earning approximately €120 less per month than those doing the exact same job in the 44 section 38 organisations and the HSE.

Contrary to what the Ministers, Deputies Paschal Donohoe and Simon Harris, and the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, have been saying, members of not-for-profit associations such as the Irish Wheelchair Association and Rehab were instructed by the HSE to align pay with the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest, FEMPI, legislation, adjust it and cut pay scales.

In 2010 the Labour Court ruled that pay cuts must be imposed because the pay scales of section 39 and 38 organisations had been aligned for more than 15 years. Why is the Minister, Deputy Harris, so disingenuous when he constantly passes the ball back and forth to the HSE whenever I raise this matter with him? It is simply impossible for the Irish Wheelchair Association to meet the €1.34 million needed for pay restoration this year under the Lansdowne Road Agreement or the €290,000 needed for last year without HSE and State support. SIPTU has rightly taken the matter to the Workplace Relations Commission for adjudication and the WRC has suggested a conciliation conference. Recently, SIPTU also tried to raise the plight of section 39 workers in Lansdowne Road negotiations. Will the Taoiseach now support a process for the full restoration of these salaries for this dedicated and highly valued workforce which enables our citizens with disabilities to live independent and satisfying lives? The funding was supposed to have been in the 2017 Estimates and hopefully we will look at this in the Budget oversight committee. The Taoiseach needs to take action for the tens of thousands of our citizens with a disability. The workers concerned are people who get up early in the morning and work hard all day.

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