Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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400. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the progress of pay increases for section 39 employees following the pay agreement reached in October 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37957/24]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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This government acknowledges the roles provided by essential workers in community and voluntary organisations who deliver health and social care services to many people across the country.

To support the sustainability of services, including the ability of organisations to recruit and retain staff, the government is proactively engaging with a Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) process, with unions representing various organisations across these sectors.

The agreement reached last October committed to a significant increase of investment in the sectors, amounting to a phased 8% increase in funding for pay for staff in Section 39, Section 56 and Section 10 voluntary organisations.

Significant interim payments were made to qualifying organisations in late January/early February 2024 and the HSE is currently in the process of administering the balance of funding to eligible organisations.

According to the HSE:

At 03 September, of 1,166 organisations with whom communication was made, 680 have made submissions; 333 organisations (including the largest organisations in the sector) have exited the process; so far, additional funding equating to a cumulative value of €69.62m, relating to uplifts for 29,998 workers has been approved.

It is the objective of the HSE to make all due payments without delay so that employees of these service provider organisations can access their entitlements as soon as possible. Employers may only use the additional funding to increase pay of their staff. The responsibility is on employers to apply for this available funding and pass on increases to eligible staff.