Calls for end to healthcare pay imbalance

The disparity in pay between HSE employees and agency and Section 39 workers was highlighted at the March meeting of Cavan County Council. Section 39 workers are employed by not-for-profit entities to work in hospices, community hospitals and Rehab facilities. In the intellectual disabilities support sector alone, one in ten workers is employed by Section 39 bodies.

These bodies are funded by the HSE to deliver healthcare, disability and social services to vulnerable individuals. The employees of these organisations do not have the status of public servants.

“The independent, not-for-profit Section 39 sector provides vital services for many hundreds of people across Cavan,” Cllr Paddy McDonald told members when he spoke on his motion.

He was calling for an end to the pay gap between HSE employees and those employed by outside bodies. “Section 39 organisations do the same work as HSE organisations who are commonly referred to as Section 38 bodies. The only difference is those who work for Section 38 bodies are considered public servants, while those in Section 39 organisations are not,” explained Cllr McDonald.

The Sinn Féin representative spoke of the unfairness of the current regime: “There are a huge amount of cases where there are two people working side by side in the same workplace doing the same tasks yet their rates of pay, travel allowances, working conditions and pension entitlements are completely different.”

Section 39 employees have not benefited from pay restoration schemes in play since 2017. “It's been a difficult number of years for staff in the Section 39 sector, particularly in the last 12 months,” Cllr McDonald said.

“Retention of staff proved to be very difficult as pay and conditions for section 38 employees in the HSE was much more attractive to workers and therefore many organisations still find it difficult to hold on to their staff. While a resolution was found for the 50 biggest Section 39 bodies last year, the issue still remains unresolved for over 250 smaller agencies.”

Cllr McDonald told members the pay gap can be very significant: “There are many carers out there being paid minimum wage rates, while the HSE pays the private recruitment providers between €25 and €30 an hour per worker. To me this would seem that the workers aren’t getting what’s owed to them and the taxpayer isn’t getting great value for money.”

The motion was backed by Cllr Shane P O'Reilly (Ind) who said: “I have had a number of representations on this. Many distressed nurses are going above and beyond what is expected and are not on pay parity with colleagues.

“It is unjust and unfair. We need to work to resolve this very carefully,” said the independent councillor.

Cllr Carmel Brady (FG) said disparity in pay is a very real source of distress and gave an example of two family members doing the same job for different pay.

She said that it was time the issue was resolved.