Section 39 pay may get restored

LEO Varadkar has indicated that money will be found in the Budget to reverse pay cuts made during the financial crisis for workers in some of the so-called ‘Section 39’ organisations.

These organisations mainly work in the health and disability sector on behalf of the State.

But while provision will be made in the 2019 spending plans if an agreement is reached, the agencies are all very different, Mr Varadkar said, and some are in profit and have the capability to make restoration themselves.

The Taoiseach was responding to Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin who attacked the ‘disgraceful treatment consistently meted out to hospices, disability organisations and mental health services’ by the Government in its failure to restore the pay of employees, whereas those directly employed in the health service have benefited.

Mr Martin claimed the Government and Minister for Health had been ‘dishonest’ about the issue.

The Taoiseach responded that Section 39 organisations were not part of the public sector and their staff not public servants. Average funding of 75% of from the State did not mean such subvention in all cases.

In some cases the funding from the Government could be as little as €10,000 whereas in other cases almost all funding may come from the public purse.

Yet in almost all cases these organisations have had budget rises in recent years, the Taoiseach said, and there had been no budget freeze for Section 39 organisations in recent years. It had risen over the last couple of years.

Mr Varadkar said analysis being carried out by the Department of Public Expenditure showed the situation is different across the various bodies.

He said: ‘We want to resolve it. We want to include in the estimates for 2019 some monies to resolve this situation. We have not yet come to an agreement on how that can be done.’