Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister gave dates and some indication of the cost. He referred to a figure of €1,000 in the context of pay restoration in April 2019 and an overall figure of €7.7 million. When will pay for employees who had their pay cut in line with public sector employees be completely restored and when is the end point for all section 39 workers, given the need to provide clarity for them? The Minister might outline the incremental steps to be taken to achieving this. It is clear that the instruction given at the time was that section 39 agencies should look at their cost base and follow public pay policy. This was confirmed by the former head of the HSE to Deputy Louise O'Reilly and also made clear by Mr. Jim Breslin, Secretary General of the Department, when he was before the committee. Therefore, it is only right that there be full restoration in line with what has happened in the public sector.

There is a second issue related to how the costs will be absorbed. Will the Minister inform the House that the cost of pay restoration will be met for the section 39 agencies to ensure they will not reduce services in dealing with the issue?

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