Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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605. To ask the Minister for Health if he will address a matter raised in a submission by an organisation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8814/20]

Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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At the outset, I would like to acknowledge the vital role played by voluntary organisations, such as those represented by the Disability Action Coalition, in providing a flexible and person-centred response to ensure continued support for our most vulnerable citizens during this challenging period, and as we prepare for the next phase of our response.  

As the Deputy will be aware, the Disability Action Coalition comprises eight voluntary organisations who provide specialist disability services and receive funding from the HSE under Section 39 of the Health Act 2004.  

The Government recognises the difficulties presented by the COVID-19 outbreak for organisations that rely on fundraising and other income raising activities.  In this context, a €35mCOVID-19 Stability Fund for Community and Voluntary Organisations, Charity and Social Enterprises was recently launched by the Department of Rural and Community Development.  This scheme, which is administered by Pobal, aims to support not-for-profit organisations who are experiencing financial difficulties due to a reduction in their fundraising income and/or traded income as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is hoped that such organisations can resume their income raising activities in the near future, in line with the Government’s roadmap for re-opening society and businesses. 

As the Deputy will be aware, the Government has agreed to allocate substantial additional funding to the Health Vote to meet the costs associated with the implementation of the measures outlined in the National Action Plan in response to COVID-19.  The HSE Executive Management Team has agreed a structured approach to addressing the financial challenges of Section 39 Agencies due to COVID-19. The objective of this approach is to provide a structured governance process and modus operandi through which such agencies can engage through the HSE to ensure, where appropriate, continuity of provision of essential services. Furthermore, the HSE has given both Section 38 and Section 39 providers of disability services and supports assurance that budget allocations confirmed to each provider via the relevant CHO, will remain in place to year end, subject to co-operation with the HSE and compliance with the relevant Service Arrangements. 

The Independent Review Group on the role of voluntary organisations in the health and social care sector contained a broad range of recommendations in its report, including a strengthening of the relationship between voluntary organisations and the State.  In this regard, I have established a dialogue forum, as recommended by the Review Group, to consider the report's recommendations. The forum, which is chaired by Peter Cassells, has met on a number of occasions to date. The most recent meetings of the Forum had to be postponed due to Covid-19, but I understand that the Chair has been in touch with Forum members in the past week in relation to continuing the good work that the Forum has started. The challenge of and the response to Covid-19 has brought into focus even more the importance of the relationship between the State and voluntary organisations and the interdependency of that relationship. I believe that there is an opportunity to build on good practices and collaborative working developed as part of the Covid-19 response and I look forward to engaging with the Forum as it continues its work.

In respect of the issue of pay restoration for Section 39 organisations, the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) agreement reached in October 2018 provided for pay restoration in relation to 50 pilot organisations in the first instance. Pay restoration for these bodies commenced in April 2019 with further payments due in October 2020 and October 2021 as appropriate. The agreement recognised that some of the remaining Section 39 organisations were also likely to have pay restoration issues and a process to address these issues commenced in recent months under the auspices of the WRC. Despite the engagement which took place, it was not possible to reach agreement. However, HSE management remains available and committed to the process and it is hoped that engagement with the WRC can re-commence when the demands of the pandemic allow.