Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

There is no point in discussing disabilities unless we can address the core issues relating to the disability sector. The core and fundamental issue is recruitment and retention. The CEO of the Disability Federation of Ireland stated that this issue is having a catastrophic impact. The reason that it is having such an impact and that there are so many difficulties is because two thirds of disability services are delivered by the voluntary sector. This Government has utterly failed the voluntary sector. Section 39 and section 56 workers have been led up the garden path by the Government. It made firm commitments to the great people in Western Care, Cheshire Ireland, Ability West and the Wheelchair Association of Ireland. It made commitments on delivering pay increases and on pay parity. However, it forgot about those commitments.

It is interesting that commitments were made in the lead-up to the election but that these do not appear in the programme for Government. All the people in the organisations are seeking is equal pay for equal work. There is not a Minister in this Chamber who would accept an inferior pay scale for delivering the same work of his or her counterpart. That is what the Government is asking these great people to do.

I will make a plea to the Minister of State on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of people who work in the voluntary sector. These people want to continue to deliver the service but they are finding it incredibility difficult. Unless the Government delivers on its promises, we will have strike action. Nobody in the disability sector wants that. The section 39 and section 56 workers want to provide the service to the most vulnerable people our communities. I ask the Minister of State to avert this unnecessary problem and give those who care for the most vulnerable people the respect, recognition and pay they deserve.

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