Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I begin by acknowledging and paying tribute to the vital role community and voluntary organisations play right across the country. I pay tribute to our guests from the community and voluntary sector and acknowledge the extraordinary work they do. The work carried out by these organisations and by the people who work for and make up these organisations has a hugely beneficial impact on so many people. As the Deputies have said, these are very often the most vulnerable people in our society and communities. The services range from mental health services, disability services in my own sector, to bereavement counselling, speech and language therapy services in organisations funded by Tusla, to emergency accommodation services in the housing sector. As Deputy Bacik has said this is a matter for all of Government, as well as the health sector. I thank Deputy Duncan Smith and the Labour Party Deputies for tabling what is a very important motion. The Government will not be opposing it.

From the perspective of my own sector, I commend the extraordinary dedication we have seen of those working in organisations funded under section 39 of the Health Act. We are all familiar with the work they do in all of our own communities, in delivering health and social care services. These include residential, day and ancillary services for people with disabilities, mental health services, palliative care services, addiction services, domestic and sexual violence services and supports for many different groups of patients living with and managing many different conditions. It includes a wide range of community initiatives that improve the quality of life for older people, maintains a sense of community and combats loneliness and isolation. They also provide practical, vital services like meals on wheels, laundry, basic essential repairs and much more.

Under section 39 of the Health Act, the HSE provides financial assistance to organisations providing services similar or ancillary to services the HSE would otherwise be providing. As colleagues will be aware, this arrangement also recognises these section 39 organisations are independently owned and run and the terms and conditions of employment are as such a matter for them as independent organisations. The Government is highly appreciative of the vital work of the organisations right across the various sectors, including Tusla and the organisations that fall under section 10 of the Housing Act 1988. On the specialist palliative care services provided by hospices, because of the complex clinical patient care provided these services are unique within the broad range of section 39 organisations. In this regard I have been engaging with the hospices regarding their specific status.

The Government is acutely aware that while public servants had the provisions in the financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI, legislation reversed and are due to receive further pay increases under the extension to the public service agreement, Building Momentum, those working in community and voluntary organisations are not covered by these arrangements. Nor are they covered under any public service agreements negotiated between public service unions and the Government. Those working in the community and voluntary sector are not public servants, as we know, so the Government does not have a mandate to change the rates of pay or terms and conditions of employment for these workers. The legal mandate, the legal authority, to do that rests with the employer within the organisations. However, the Government is also acutely aware, as am I as Minister for Health, that as the main and often sole funder of these organisations, the funding levels provided by the Government of course impact on the ability of individual organisations to increase pay and improve conditions for their staff regardless of the fact they are legally independent organisations.

Today’s motion concerns community and voluntary sector organisations across many different sectors, including health and social care, housing and homelessness, children’s services, and others. However, I have no doubt that the challenges faced by organisations in the health sector, which I am very well aware of and familiar with, are also being felt in these others sectors as well. I appreciate individuals working in the community and voluntary sectors are feeling worried in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis. I am aware of the challenges of many of these organisations when trying to retain and hire staff given their current funding allocations. I am also aware of the challenges many community and voluntary organisations are facing this autumn and winter with spiralling energy costs and increases in other bills as well. I believe the point the Taoiseach was making yesterday on the breadth of the motion is that it covers a very large number of organisations. They range from very small organisations to some very big organisations and service providers. According to the latest publicly available data, the sector has over 32,000 organisations. This includes nearly 3,000 contracted and funded to provide services on behalf of the State. The sector is, as we all know, hugely diverse, complex and the challenges for the different organisations within it are varied.

This is also true of the terms and conditions of staff working in these organisations. The pay of public servants was cut by the FEMPI reductions in 2010. While FEMPI provisions did not technically apply to community and voluntary organisations, savings were made by those organisations. In many cases, this was achieved through pay cuts in line with the FEMPI cuts made to public sector workers' pay. As we are all aware, the issue of restoration of pay for workers whose pay was cut arose a number of years ago. To address this, a process involving the Department of Health, the HSE and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, was initiated at the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, in 2019. It was mandated to work through these many complex issues and resulted in funding being made available for pay increases for an initial 50 of the larger agencies that met various criteria from a total of 300 agencies. Subsequently, in 2021, there was further engagement at the WRC. This resulted in funding being made available for pay increases for cohorts of staff in the remaining 250 of the 300 agencies initially identified in 2019. A process along these lines could play a very useful role in providing solutions to the current pay-related issues that have been raised and which are, very understandably, referenced in this motion. The issues have also been raised with me, with Government and with Members of this House by representatives of the community and voluntary sector.

At the same time, there is a need for more immediate financial support in the face of the energy crisis. The Government’s acknowledgement of the challenges faced by the sector in the midst of this cost-of-living crisis is illustrated by the support in last month’s budget. In my own sector, we are providing once-off funding of €100 million. This money will help section 39 organisations, community organisations and nursing homes, as well as certain section 38 organisations. This is once-off funding and will be allocated as quickly as possible to help these organisations with spiralling costs for energy, for transporting patients to hospitals and for many other things. Tusla's funding allocation will increase to €935 million next year. A further €21 million has been secured for homeless services. This will bring the total funding for homeless services next year to €215 million.

I again acknowledge the important work these organisations, and essentially their workers, do. Funding for these sectors of healthcare is at its highest level ever. I know these workers and organisations are using that funding and turning it into vital services for people right across our country. I acknowledge the genuine financial challenges facing many of these organisations because of the energy crisis. We need to proceed with both short-term and longer-term solutions.

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