Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The programme for Government rightly lauds the important work local drugs task forces do, but nowhere does it mention giving a pay rise to section 39 workers, who have not seen an increase in more than ten years, or address the cuts over that period. Does the Government intend to rectify this and stop the flood of fully qualified addiction counsellors and other personnel moving to the private sector? The issue is outstanding and this needs to be dealt with. They carry out really important work in our communities. We need to back that up by paying the right amount for the jobs they do.

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