Why has the Taoiseach's Ministers, Deputies Paschal Donohoe and Simon Harris, refused to provide the funding necessary for the restoration of staff salaries in section 39 health sector organisations? Unlike colleagues often doing the very same job in section 38 agencies and in the HSE, health workers in the 1,800 section 39 organisations have been discriminated against and denied pay restoration under the Lansdowne Road agreement.

Three weeks ago I hosted a Dáil briefing that was addressed by chief executive officers of the two largest section 39 organisations in the country, the Irish Wheelchair Association and the Rehab. The briefing was well attended by colleagues from all sides of the House and the Seanad and was addressed by the two chief executive officers, Ms Rosemary Keogh of the Irish Wheelchair Association and Ms Mo Flynn of Rehab. I am delighted to extend a welcome to Ms Keogh who is in the Visitors Gallery. Both CEOs strongly warned that the services provided by their organisations will be in jeopardy if there is no urgent resolution of the pay restoration issue for their staff, and those most negatively impacted will be the tens of thousands of our citizens with disabilities receiving vital support services.

The Irish Wheelchair Association, which has its headquarters in Clontarf in my constituency, delivers 1.17 million hours of assisted living services to almost 2,000 people. It employs 1,500 people in providing assisted living services and it is the largest provider of these services in Ireland. It has approximately 20,000 members throughout the country. Ms Keogh succinctly informed us three weeks ago that if one works as a home support worker with a section 38 organisation or the HSE, one will receive the Lansdowne Road agreement pay increases but if one does equivalent work with the Irish Wheelchair Association, the State does not recognise one's right to seek pay restoration even though one will be carrying out the exact same tasks. Ms Mo Flynn of Rehab, which provides a similar level of services, highlighted the difficulty for section 39 organisations in retaining skilled staff, given that section 39 staff are now earning approximately €120 less per month than those doing the exact same job in the 44 section 38 organisations and the HSE.

Contrary to what the Ministers, Deputies Paschal Donohoe and Simon Harris, and the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, have been saying, members of not-for-profit associations such as the Irish Wheelchair Association and Rehab were instructed by the HSE to align pay with the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest, FEMPI, legislation, adjust it and cut pay scales.

In 2010 the Labour Court ruled that pay cuts must be imposed because the pay scales of section 39 and 38 organisations had been aligned for more than 15 years. Why is the Minister, Deputy Harris, so disingenuous when he constantly passes the ball back and forth to the HSE whenever I raise this matter with him? It is simply impossible for the Irish Wheelchair Association to meet the €1.34 million needed for pay restoration this year under the Lansdowne Road Agreement or the €290,000 needed for last year without HSE and State support. SIPTU has rightly taken the matter to the Workplace Relations Commission for adjudication and the WRC has suggested a conciliation conference. Recently, SIPTU also tried to raise the plight of section 39 workers in Lansdowne Road 2 negotiations. Will the Taoiseach now support a process for the full restoration of these salaries for this dedicated and highly valued workforce which enables our citizens with disabilities to live independent and satisfying lives? The funding was supposed to have been in the 2017 Estimates and hopefully we will look at this in the Budget Oversight Committee. The Taoiseach needs to take action for the tens of thousands of our citizens with a disability. The workers concerned are people who get up early in the morning and work hard all day.

The Deputy and I both know, but maybe others in the House will not be as familiar with these issues and the Health Act, that the fundamental difference between people who work for a section 38 or section 39 organisation is that if one works for a section 38 organisation one is a public sector employee. One is effectively a public servant and therefore is subject to all the pluses and minuses that come with that, the pluses such as the very good public sector pension and minuses that arise from the various restrictions that apply to hiring and firing in the public sector, and pay reductions and increases where they arise. People who work for section 39 organisations are not public sector employees. They tend to work for a NGO, charity or religious order which is given a block grant from which they are expected to provide services and pay their employees. That is the difference between section 38 and section 39. It is not dissimilar to a company which receives a contract having to cover its costs, provide its services and employ its staff from the money it receives for that contract. It is not acceptable for any organisation that has had its budget increased to reduce the services it provides to its clients and I would take a very dim view of any organisation reducing services to its clients where its budget has not been reduced.

The Taoiseach has just repeated the old mantra. He and I both know the distinction which goes back to the Health Act 1953. The reality is that the Labour Court judged in 2010 that the pay scales of similar type jobs in both section 39 and section 38 had been aligned for 15 years. Those workers took a massive hit, in common with the rest of the public sector workforce. Because there is this precedent, it is a foregone conclusion that the WRC will rule that section 39 workers are entitled to increases under the Lansdowne Road agreement. Therefore it is a question of when, not if. The Taoiseach and the Ministers, Deputies Harris and Donohoe, are placing vital services in jeopardy by withholding funding from the organisations which would have gone to provide necessary services. There is widespread support across the Oireachtas for this restoration. Some weeks ago, I sent a letter to Deputy Harris, which has not been acknowledged, from members of my technical group, Independents4Change, Solidarity - People Before Profit, supported by Sinn Féin, Fianna Fáil and the Rural Alliance, asking the Minister to meet with the Not For Profit Association. He has not even replied to us.

I have already met them.

The Minister has not even acknowledged the letter. The Taoiseach might ask him to do that. One final point. A constituent with a disability, who I know, sums up the need for urgent action on this issue. She receives a personal assistance package from the Wheelchair Association. Without it she would not be able to live her life to the fullest. She is holding down an important job, attending college and taking care of her young child and her family home. It is for her and the thousands of people like her that the Taoiseach should take action on this and not just give me these formulaic responses.

I want something different and some real action on this matter.

I have not seen that Labour Court recommendation, but, as the Deputy will be aware, Labour Court recommendations are made to the employer. In the case of section 39 bodies, the employer is the legal employer - the charity, NGO, religious or other body - not the State. Regarding pay restoration, staff in section 39 agencies were not subject to the provisions of the public service agreements or the FEMPI legislation which imposed pay reductions. I am informed that a dispute resolution process with the HSE was entered into by both the Irish Wheelchair Association and Rehab and that significant progress has been made, as recognised by both sides. They have now agreed to a separate WRC process to deal with the issue of pay restoration issue. I believe the matter can be resolved at the WRC in the normal way.

They need the Taoiseach's help.

On foot of this process, the director general of the HSE has given a derogation to both the Irish Wheelchair Association and Rehab to reinstate in full their funding levels.