Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving me the opportunity to raise this issue. I also thank Minister for being present to take this important matter.

Approximately 400 social care workers in Galway and Roscommon are owed in or around €7.5 million by the HSE in unpaid wages dating back more than a decade. The HSE has acknowledged that it owes them this money and has been directed by the Labour Court to pay its debts, but the HSE is arguing an inability to pay.

The payment in question is the twilight premium - time and one sixth for the period between 8 p.m. and midnight - for social care workers or leaders in the Brothers of Charity Services in counties Roscommon and Galway and Ability West in County Galway. Both sets of staff have secured the payment dated from 1 January of this year. At a Labour Court hearing - I am sorry, it was a Labour Relations Commission, LRC, hearing - on 3 March, the HSE accepted that there was a legal entitlement to pay the money and that there was a liability in respect of historical arrears that had accrued to the social care workers and leaders, but asserted that it was not in a position to pay those arrears. Galway-Roscommon primary, community and continuing care, PCCC, handed back €6.5 million in respect of psychiatric services last year. Surely some of that money could have been used to pay these arrears.

What is frustrating for the staff is that the HSE has continued to pay its own staff the twilight premium in recent years. The HSE recently paid arrears to the social care staff of agencies in Dublin such as Home Again Traveller, Families Care and Cottage Home for Little Children, but it is refusing to pay the same arrears to social care workers and leaders in Galway and Roscommon.

Will the Minister intervene and direct the HSE to honour its commitment? In light of how it has paid its own staff the twilight premium and the staff of a number of organisations in Dublin their arrears, the same should apply to staff in Galway and Roscommon and they should get the €7.5 million that they are due in arrears without delay.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Naughten for raising this issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, who is on Government business elsewhere. I should clarify that this issue concerns conciliation conferences under the aegis of the LRC and not a Labour Court recommendation, as was suggested in the initial text of matter raised.

The unsocial hours premium payments of time and one sixth are known as twilight payments. Provision for their payment to nurses was introduced in 1999. Access to this premium payment was subsequently extended to other grades of staff, including social care workers. Costs arising from the introduction of these payments were to be met from within agencies' existing allocations.

The issue raised in this case relates to premium payments to social care workers at a rate of time and one sixth for hours worked after 8 p.m. until the end of their shifts. The matter was the subject of conciliation conferences under the aegis of the LRC last October and November. The latest engagement occurred on 3 March. The staff concerned are employed by the Brothers of Charity Services in Galway and Roscommon and Ability West, which is primarily based in Galway. They are not directly employed by the HSE.

At the LRC conciliation conference on 27 November, the HSE gave a commitment to actively pursue the provision of resources to the agencies in the context of the 2015 Estimates process so as to enable payment of the premium from 1 January 2015. I am informed that the payment of the twilight premium has commenced since 1 January but there remains a continuing issue of retrospective payments, as the Deputy mentioned. This is being pursued by the Impact trade union and was the subject matter of the latest LRC engagement on 3 March. The HSE has indicated that it is not in a position to consider any retrospective payment at this time and has advised that it is engaging in a broader national process to determine the overall extent of issues relating to the non-application of twilight premiums in sections 38 and 39 agencies. It is expected that this process will be finalised on 17 April. Together with the employers directly involved in Galway and Roscommon, the HSE has indicated a willingness to return to the LRC at that stage.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. My difficulty is that arrears have been paid in sections 38 and 39 organisations in Dublin, namely, Home Again Traveller, Families Care and Cottage Home for Little Children. Why are we treating staff in Galway and Roscommon differently than staff in Dublin where the same liability applies and the latter had not traditionally been receiving the twilight premium? Where arrears have accrued, payment is being made to staff in Dublin but not to staff in Galway and Roscommon.

Will the Minister examine this situation? In fairness to the staff involved, they do outstanding work in sometimes difficult circumstances, particularly in recent years due to changes in work practices and resources. There has been a major shift in how they operate their services. We should try to meet this liability, given the fact that it is being paid in one part of the country. I urge the Minister to examine this issue and try to facilitate a resolution. By 17 April, there could be a clear programme to resolve the issue once and for all.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I am not an expert on this issue by any means but, as I understand it, there are people who are directly employed by the HSE and, separately, there are people who work for private companies, charities, voluntary hospitals and sections 38 and 39 agencies. The latter are not HSE employees. Those bodies are given money by the HSE on the basis of service level agreements and are supposed to provide those services within the budgets allocated to them. It may be the case that the bodies in Dublin mentioned by the Deputy decided to pay the arrears out of their allocations whereas, for whatever reason, the similar agencies in Galway and Roscommon decided not to do so. I do not know, but that is my best guess for why there is a disparity. However, this issue will be resolved through the LRC and its ongoing work. That is the best place for the issue to be resolved.