Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am taking this question on behalf of the Minister who, as the Deputy knows, cannot be here.

It is important to acknowledge the vital role that section 39 and section 56 organisations and their staff play in our health and social care sectors.

They continue to have a key role in providing services to people with disabilities, vulnerable children, older people and in other social care settings.

The Government has a clear interest in ensuring the stability and sustainability of these services. The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is the lead Department on this topic, as the majority of the organisations in question fall under its remit. Officials in the Department of Health are working closely with their colleagues in the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth on this matter. I am aware that they have been engaging extensively with the unions over recent months under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, and have been supported in these discussions by officials from the Department of Health, the HSE and Tusla. This process culminated in an offer being made in line with that accepted by the same trade unions in other sectors across the wider public sector in recent months. The offer to workers in this sector amounted to a 5% increase in funding for pay, effective from November 2023, with 3% backdated to April 2023, and a commitment to re-engage with trade union representatives following the next public sector pay agreement. Unfortunately, this offer was not accepted by trade union representatives. It is disappointing that their members were not afforded the opportunity to vote on whether they wished to accept the 5% increase in pay funding and that the unions instead elected to ballot for industrial action. As such action would impact negatively on people who rely on these services, I urge all parties to work on resolving any disputes through the appropriate forums and uphold industrial peace in the interests of people who use our health service. An announcement regarding the result of the ballot and any plan for industrial action is expected to be made by the unions at a press conference on Monday, 25 September. As this is an ongoing industrial relations matter, it would be inappropriate to comment any further at this point.

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