Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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37. To ask the Minister for Health the position regarding section 39 organisations, for example, hospices, in which staff took pay cuts during the financial emergency; if funding will be provided to ensure their pay is restored in line with section 38 organisations for staff enjoying the same terms and conditions as civil and public servants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40357/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Section 39 of the Health Act 2004, provides that the HSE may ‘..give assistance to any person or body that provides or proposes to provide a service similar or ancillary to a service that the Executive may provide.’. Such assistance may range from contributing to the expenses incurred by that person or body to allowing them the use of an HSE premises. Financial assistance is provided in the form of a grant and the value of such grants can vary from very high to very low value.

Where the HSE provides a grant to a voluntary provider under Section 39, the HSE puts in place a Service Level Agreement with the provider. This sets out the level of service to be provided for the grant which they receive. It is important to note that any individuals employed by these section 39 organisations are not HSE employees. The HSE has no role in determining the salaries or other terms and conditions applying to these staff. It is an accepted fact that the staff of these Section 39 organisations are not public servants. This means that they were not subject to the FEMPI legislation which imposed pay reductions or the provisions of the subsequent Public Service Agreements which provide for pay restoration.

It is a matter for Section 39 organisations to negotiate salaries with their staff as part of their employment relationship and within the overall funding available for the delivery of agreed services.