Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 April 2019
162. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Health when section 39 workers in Nenagh day care centre will have their pay restored in view of the fact it has been reinstated for their counterparts in the HSE; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17909/19]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware that in February 2018, an agreement was reached at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) between my Department, the HSE and health sector Trade Unions in relation to a process aimed at resolving the pay restoration issue for staff employed by section 39 bodies in 50 pilot organisations. The 50 organisations included were agreed at the WRC by all parties.
I asked the HSE to engage with the Section 39 organisations to establish the facts around what cuts were applied and how and when they were implemented. The HSE completed the first phase of their work in relation to the agencies identified as part of the WRC process. This exercise has shown that of the agencies who returned data, a majority did apply pay reductions of some form. It also showed that some agencies made some form of pay restoration between 2016 and 2018.
Following constructive engagement with the assistance of the Workplace Relations Commission, an agreement was reached on 2 October between the parties. Pay restoration will commence with an annual pay increase of up to €1,000 in April 2019 for those employed by the 50 organisations involved in the pilot. Any outstanding balance will be paid in two equal amounts in 2020 and 2021.
The HSE are undertaking a further validation exercise of those 50 pilot organisations and their funding requirements to enable the pay restoration. Further information was requested from these organisations. It is recognised that some of the organisations which did not form part of this pilot phase are likely to have pay restoration issues also. A process of engagement to address this will commence in 2019.
