Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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123. To ask the Minister for Health his plans for the restoration of full pay for staff in section 39 organisations; the approach he plans to take for restoration of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18519/18]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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On 9 February 2018, an agreement was reached between my Department, the HSE and health sector Trade Unions in relation to a process aimed at resolving the pay restoration issue for staff employed by section 39 bodies.

While it is understood that pay savings were made by the organisations, the precise mix of pay cuts or other savings measures will have varied. Also, where there were pay cuts, it is not at all clear that they were applied in a universally consistent manner, as is the case in the public sector. 

Therefore, the Government has put in place a process to establish a deeper understanding of the funding position in these grant - aided organisations and the true extent of the pay reductions applied. I asked the HSE to engage with the Section 39 organisations to establish the facts around what cuts were applied and how and when they were implemented. It was agreed that a pilot group of organisations should form part of the priority assessment exercise.

The data provided by the organisations will inform the scope and nature of the follow - on work that may need to be done to complete the data-validation exercise. On completion of the analysis, the HSE will present the results to the Department of Health for assessment. An interim report on this matter is expected from the HSE in the coming weeks.