The Deputy will be aware that a WRC agreement was reached in October 2018 in relation to pay restoration. This provided for pay restoration in relation to 50 ‘pilot organisations’ in the first instance. Pay restoration for these bodies commenced in April 2019 with further payments due in 2020 and 2021 where appropriate.
The WRC agreement also states:“It is recognised that some of the remaining Section 39 organisations (estimated 250 approximately) are likely to have pay restoration issues and a process to address these will be agreed and the parties will commence engagement on this issue during 2019”
There has been renewed engagements in recent months between the parties on this matter under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission. HSE management has indicated its willingness to undertake the preparatory work around implementation of pay restoration for this next group. The HSE has also confirmed the following:
- A dedicated resource has been assigned to this work
- Costing of the next phase of pay restoration is underway
- It is intended to use the learning from the first 50 pilot organisations to streamline this process
Engagement is ongoing between the parties utilising the dispute resolution mechanisms of the Workplace Relations Commission. It is expected that any funding required will be considered in consultation with the Department of Public Expenditure in the context of the annual Estimates process.
