Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join my colleagues in raising the issue of the number of agencies that are getting funding from the HSE. For the information of the House, 2,680 organisations are in receipt of funding totalling €3.27 billion per annum. It is 25% of the health budget so it is important that we have a debate on it. I welcome the decision by Jonathan Irwin to disclose the pay of senior staff. Every other organisation should do likewise, so there is full transparency.

My colleague, Senator Mullins, referred to section 38 organisations. The big problem is not section 38 organisations but section 39 organisations. They are not subject to the same level of scrutiny as section 38 organisations as they are not fully funded by the HSE. I received a reply on this matter from the Department when I raised it on the Adjournment last week. It is only in the last four weeks, since I started to raise this issue in the health committee, that the Department has decided to write to the section 39 organisations to ask them to comply with the HSE guidelines on salaries. It is a little late to be doing that now as it should have been done far earlier, but I welcome the decision to write to section 39 organisations on this issue. There is a need for a full debate on this so people can be aware of the level of funding paid to all of these organisations from the health budget. I would welcome the Minister coming to the House for a full, detailed debate on both section 38 and section 39 organisations.

Finally, I join my colleague, Senator Leyden, in congratulating Fr. Padraig Devine. A member of my family has been working for many years in Nairobi in Kenya and, having visited that country, I am very much aware of the difficult work involved and of the contribution the religious orders are making in such countries. I welcome him and congratulate him on the award he received.