Section 39 workers’ pay
Deputy Conway-Walsh warns that unresolved pay issues could lead to strike action by 5,000 disability-service workers. The Tánaiste refers to the Government’s commitment, the 2023 agreement and additional pay funding.
The programme for Government commits the Government to work with the voluntary sector through industrial relations mechanisms and other processes to progress pay issues that affect the delivery of disability services and the long-term viability of organisations within the sector. We know that SIPTU is due to begin a ballot for strike action by up to 5,000 members working across 21 section 39 organisations. I raised this matter with the former Minister of State, Anne Rabbitte, last October, a year on from the pay agreement being reached at the Workplace Relations Commission and the Government's commitment to honour that, but nothing has happened in the meantime. We saw the treatment of section 39 workers take centre stage during the election campaign, thanks to Charlotte Fallon challenging the Tánaiste on the matter. At the time, he committed to prioritising the issue. Were those hollow words? What has been done in the meantime? Will the Government engage directly with the unions to urgently avert strike action?
Comment on this
Those words were clearly anything but what the Deputy has termed them. As she has rightly said, if the Deputy reads the programme for Government, and she referenced it, it commits the Government to working with the sector through the mechanisms that are available to progress the issues. As I said to her colleague Deputy Kerrane when she raised this matter, we have seen the interim agreement in October 2023. We have seen State agencies work with service providers to administer the associated pay funding adjustments. The fact is Departments offered a further 8.5% increase in funding for pay. When that is coupled with the October 2023 situation, it means that funding for pay will increase by 16.5% over three and a half years. Ministers will now seek an early opportunity to restart engagement with unions and employers through the Workplace Relations Commission. I appreciate the vital role that these workers play, but I also appreciate the number of people who depend on those services. I know the Deputy raised the matter in that spirit.