Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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2106. To ask the Minister for Health the steps being taken to ensure full pay parity for section 39 workers with their HSE counterparts, given the persistent disparities in pay and conditions, recruitment and retention challenges, and the commitments made in recent Workplace Relations Commission agreements (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19277/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Following lengthy negotiations under the auspices of the Workforce Relations Commission (WRC) an unprecedented funding agreement was reached in March 2025 which provided for a 9.25% pay increase for up to 40,000 community and voluntary workers equivalent to the Public Sector Pay agreement 2024-2026, a deal that also included an automatic link to all future public sector pay agreements to match all future pay increases.

The agreement applies to the pay of workers in organisations grant funded under Section 39 (Health Act 2004), Section 56 (Child and Family Agency Act 2013), Section 10 (Housing Act 1988) and Section 40 (Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Agency Act 2023). These workers are employed in community and voluntary organisations that are not public bodies. It is only organisations in these categories that are within the scope of this agreement.

Private for-profit organisations, not in receipt of funding as outlined in the scope, are not party to this agreement. It is important to acknowledge that these organisations are privately owned and operated and receive payment from the State through the separate, statutory Nursing Home Support Scheme.

It is important to note that the Department of Health, or the HSE, are not the employer, and the terms and conditions of employment for staff in these organisations are ultimately determined between the employer and their employees.