Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

My Department acknowledges the important role Enable Ireland and other section 39 organisations and, in particular, their workers play in our health and social care services. This work is essential in providing services to many families and vulnerable people in society. Voluntary service provider agencies provide the majority of services in partnership with and on behalf of the Health Service Executive. The HSE provides funding to more than 419 organisations through more than 1,045 service arrangements throughout the country.

Enable Ireland staff are aligned to the HSE consolidated pay scales as at 1 September 2008, as per the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, agreement and subsequent pay restoration programme completed in 2021. A copy of the scales and structure for the disciplines requested, namely, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists, has been provided by the HSE and will be available to the Deputy if required.

The HSE has established a formal and robust governance framework to cover funding relationships with all non-statutory agencies that are contracted to provide services on behalf of the HSE. This includes voluntary organisations funded under sections 38 and 39 of the Health Act. The HSE currently has 18 service arrangements with Enable Ireland, covering most of the nine HSE community healthcare organisation, CHO, areas.

In 2021, Enable Ireland received funding of more than €47 million. In 2022, Enable Ireland received funding of more than €53 million from the HSE under the section 39 arrangement.

Notwithstanding that section 39 employers do not have an employment relationship with the HSE or the Department, a process of engagement to examine the pay claim of workers in community and voluntary organisations was committed to by the Government. There have been three meetings at the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, so far. I am fully committed to addressing matters through the current WRC process and I want to see matters effectively and quickly resolved in the interests of services users, staff and providers.

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