Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will bring the Deputy's two final points to the Minister for his attention. According to the concluding statement that the Minister has provided, grades that fall into the HSE's support staff category, such as housekeeping staff, have seen an overall increase of between 10.25% and 11.5% in the past four years alone, depending on their point on the scale. These increases have been as a result of the adjustments agreed via public service agreements, including the current public service agreement, Building Momentum. Further increases for these grades have been agreed as part of the extension to the public service agreement, as previously advised. The Department of Health and the HSE are bound by the existing pay agreement, which clearly states that sectoral bargaining is the only mechanism for addressing outstanding claims within the lifetime of the agreement.

If a claim relating to this pay scale exists, I advise the relevant representative bodies to raise it at the appropriate national industrial relations forums and through the necessary local engagement, if that has not already occurred. The matter can progress through the relevant conflict resolution processes.

I will bring both of the Deputy's suggestions to the Minister.

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