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

I thank the Senator for raising this matter. As he said, section 39 of the Health Act 2004 relates to funding of bodies by the HSE and section 56 of the Child and Family Agency Act 2013 relates to funding by Tusla. When the Senator raised this issue with the Minister for Health, he acknowledged it would be inappropriate for him to comment in respect of the operation of section 56 as matters funded under it relate to Tusla and fall within the remit of my Department.

As Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, I highly value the work undertaken by the community and voluntary sector which provide services funded by Tusla under section 56 of the 2013 Act. I am very conscious and appreciative of the impact these organisations and their staff have on improving outcomes for children, young people and families all over Ireland.

The Minister for Health has advised me that under section 39 of the Health Act 2004, the HSE provides financial assistance to organisations by means of a grant. Section 39 legally underpins the provision of services similar or supplementary to a service the HSE may provide.I understand that pay restoration was secured under a Workplace Relations Commission agreement between the Department of Health and the HSE on the one hand, and the unions representing the workers of section 39 organisations on the other. The section 39 organisations to which the agreement applied included those with service arrangements in place in 2013 which were still in place in 2019 and that received in excess of an agreed, specified amount from the HSE, which I understand was €250,000 per year. This was achieved through an agreed process on a phased basis.

Since the establishment of Tusla in 2014, the agency has funded many organisations, mostly in the community and voluntary sector, to deliver services on its behalf under sections 56 to 59 of the Child and Family Agency Act 2013. These commissioned services fulfil Tusla's statutory responsibilities and deliver on the agency's strategic objectives. Such organisations are important partners in the work of the agency and I value the unique position many of them are in that enable them to deliver services which can respond quickly to the needs of children and families in their local communities. I acknowledge that some of these organisations were funded by the HSE under section 39 of the Health Act 2004 prior to the establishment of Tusla in 2014. However, section 56(14) of the Act is clear that "an arrangement under this section shall not give rise to an employment relationship between a service provider, its employees or agents on the one hand and the Agency on the other". Therefore, these organisations operate independently of Tusla and are responsible for the recruitment of their employees and for the terms and conditions under which they are employed. Tusla is not the employer of the staff of such organisations and the remuneration of these staff is a matter for their own employers.

While Tusla is not the employer of the staff in organisations funded by section 56, the agency has raised the issue of the sustainability of the vital services provided by these organisations with me in the last year. They are a part of the essential infrastructure of services and supports we have in place for children and their families. At my most recent quarterly meeting with the board of Tusla, the chairman and I spoke about our intention to pursue additional resources for the sector as part of the Estimates process in 2022. I assure the Senator, therefore, that I am committed to working with my colleagues in Government, and especially the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, Tusla and other service delivery partners to address the sustainability of these services and ensure that we meet the needs of children, young people and their families across Ireland. I will be giving this issue my full consideration in the upcoming Estimates process.