Section 39 pay increase delay
Deputy Conway-Walsh said section 39 health and community workers still had not received an agreed 8% pay rise and future talks had stalled. The Minister of State said the deal had been done, back pay was being processed through KOSI, and funding was ring-fenced and to be paid to providers.
I raise the issue of section 39 health and community workers. As the Minister knows, an agreement was reached in October last year between the Department of Health, the Department of children, and the INMO, SIPTU and Fórsa trade unions on behalf of these workers. The agreement included an 8% increase while negotiations were to continue regarding future pay movement. I understand that the staff in some section 39 organisations have still not received the 8% pay increase a year after the agreement was reached. Furthermore, I understand that negotiations on future pay movement have stalled, resulting in these workers falling further behind the pay rates of their public sector colleagues. Why is that the case? Will the Minister tell me what steps the Government is taking to address the issue? What is the timeline for the full resolution and implementation of this? Has the Government acted in bad faith? The deal was done. Is the Government reneging on its promises?
Comment on this
The deal was most certainly done.
Comment on this
The KOSI process was put in place last year. Would you believe it, we are still working our way through the KOSI process. Only yesterday, I visited St. Christopher's Services in Longford. Its back payment of €1.2 million has been allocated and released by the HSE to the provider and will be passed on. A number of other section 39 organisations still need to complete the documentation with their local HSE branches. The funding is there and ring-fenced and will be paid directly to the providers.